The Dark Mark
by Eyes that are Windows to the Soul
Summary: AU OOC. After a troubling summer and her best friends deserting her, Hermione turns to the one thing she has left, getting the Dark Mark. Warning: Rape, character death, betrayal and Romance.
1. Explanations and Thought Processes

_A/N: Hey everyone! So I know instead of starting a new story I should be finishing my other ones, but writer's block once again has a grip on me when it comes to those. And technically this isn't a new story. Originally this story was the first one I ever put on this site, titled The Dark Mark, and I wrote it under the pen name of Black Roses In The Moonlight. Due to lack of thinking and some flames I took the story off to re-write it. I have now decided that I am going to post a new version of it and work on this one, putting the others on hiatus for now._

**Chapter One - Explanations and Thought Processes**

"Mione, what's gotten into you? First you are silent throughout the train ride, and now you won't even pay attention to us at the feast?" Harry said as he put another piece of chicken on his plate.

"Oh what?" Hermione said, waking up from her day-dream.

"See, this is what I am talking about. You have been out of it all day! You didn't even help me with my summer homework on the train like you normally do!" He exclaimed.

"You mean I didn't let you copy my essays?" Hermione whispered.

"Aw come on Hermione, don't start that again! I just want to know what's gotten you all depressed and boring all of a sudden!" Harry said.

"I'll tell you after the feast okay. We can go to the Head's Common room after and talk." She said, slowly getting up and slinging her bag over her shoulder before walking away from him.

"Hey Hermione, why did Harry drag me down here?" Ron asked, yawning.

"Mione said she would tell us why she has been so... different lately. I didn't think you would mind wanting to know, sorry..." Harry mumbled, showing the side of him that only Ron and Hermione ever saw. In truth Harry wasn't the golden boy everyone thought that he was. He was scared of a lot of things, and couldn't stand up for himself unless Ron or Hermione was there to back him.

"Oh, well spit it out then Hermione, I want to go to sleep!" Ron said, collapsing onto the couch, spilling all the books off it in the process.

"I don't know how to tell you this..." She started, dropping down into the chair by the fire.

"Just tell us Mya, we want to know." Harry said.

"And we want to go to sleep. Double Potions with the Slytherins in the morning."

"Well...something happened to me over the summer. Something that I am ashamed of and that I haven't told anyone about since it happened." With each word that she said, Hermione sunk deeper into the chair, as if trying to hide from the boys that were staring at her.

"Keep going." Ron said.

Hermione looked over at Harry, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She slowly opened her mouth and whispered something.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear what you said..."

"I was raped by someone really close to me...someone who was supposed to protect me..." Hermione said, barely raising her voice from the previous whisper.

"Oh come on Hermione!" Ron said, jumping up from the couch. "You brought me all the way down here to just to make something up?" Ron yelled.

"Ron what are you saying?" Hermione said, her voice rising to a louder tone.

"I'm saying that you are always making things up to get attention. You've done it since first year! Listen, we all know that you feel like you are left behind, but we all have a part in this war! And whether you like it or not your's is to be on the sidelines finding out curses and such for the rest of us!"

"Ron! How could you think I was lying about this?" Hermione said, bursting into tears. "How could you say that to me?"

"Just come off it Hermione! Come on Harry we're leaving!" Ron said, grabbing Harry's arm and dragging him towards the portrait hole.

"Harry..." Hermione whispered, hoping that he would at least believe her.

"I'm sorry Mione, but Ron's right...I'll see you tomorrow."

After they had left Hermione collapsed on the the couch Ron had been sitting on. All she could think of was how her so-called best friends didn't believe her about something as important as what she had told them. They had called her a lier and then left her.

Just as she was getting up to go to her room, Malfoy walked in, a note in his hand.

"Hey Mudblood, your owl left this outside the common room. You should be more careful, wouldn't want to defile the school with your trash. It's already bad enough just having you here." He said, his trademark smirk plastered onto his face.

"Dammit Malfoy, I'm not in the mood for this right now! Just give me my letter!" She said, walking up to him and holding out her hand.

"You really want it that bad?" Malfoy said, baiting her.

"Malfoy just give me my letter and leave me alone!" Hermione said trying to grab it out of his hand.

"Well why don't we just see who it's from then shall we." He said, dodging her hand and quickly looking at the address in the corner. "Mr. Granger, your father. Let me guess, you left something at your house and he is writing to tell you he will send it to you. Now what could it be..." Draco said, his eyes glowing with the chance to see if there was anything he could use to embarrass her with. He quickly ripped the envelope open and started to unfold the letter.

"Draco don't!" Hermione yelled, fear evident in her voice. Draco abruptly stopped what he was doing and stared at her. "Please, don't read it..." Draco could see tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"Aw, is the Mudblood scared that I will use anything in the letter against her? Well you should be!" Draco said. He quickly scanned the letter, dodging Hermione's attempts to get it back. Suddenly Draco stopped moving and dropped the letter, his face white.

"Granger," Draco said, staring at her in disbelief. Hermione just stared at him and collapsed to the floor, her body shaking from embarrassment and from crying.

**Please review and let me know what you think. And if any of you have read the first version of this let me know if this is any better!**


	2. Revealing

_A/N: Okay so there are a couple of things I am going to have to apologize for. The first being that the last chapter was so rushed and had so many things happen in it, the second one being that for a few chapters it might be like that. I want to set the background up before I get to the main part of this story. Also, for some reason the site keeps taking away any attempt I make at breaking up the different sections. I am going to try something different this time so that it doesn't become confusing (at least any more than it already is)_

_This chapter might seem a little weird due to the way some of the characters are going to be acting, but remember that I put the warning that they were out of character._

**Chapter Two: Revealing**

"Granger?" Draco said again, watching Hermione turn even paler at the sound of his voice. "L-like I said, stop leaving your trash around the school."

Hermione barely looked up at him as he quickly walked into his room and slammed the door behind him. She quickly reached out her hand to grab the letter, and stuffed it into her pocket to read later before following his actions and retreating into her room to sleep.

sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.

"Ron, are you sure what we did to Hermione was okay?" Harry asked, his voice so tiny that Ron could barely hear him.

"Yes I'm sure, and if you wouldn't mind shutting up I would appreciate it so that I can continue thinking of ways to get Hermione to do what we have planned for her." Ron said.

"I'm not so sure that I want that to happen anymore. I will miss her, you know..."

"Oh shut up Harry! All you have to do is stand there and wait, now stop talking about it before someone hears you!"

"But Ron-"

"No Harry! We had this planned from the very beginning and we are not going back on what we said we were going to do! Now come on let's go to sleep."

sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.sss.

Hermione couldn't get to sleep. All she could think about was the letter and the fact that Malfoy had read it. She quickly through the covers off of her and walked to the window. _What am I going to do... Malfoy read my letter... Harry and Ron don't believe me..._

Tears started to run down her face yet again. Slowly she moved away from the window and over to her desk. The letter sat there, daring her to read it. She carefully reached out her hand to grab the letter and opened it to read.

_A/N (again): Okay this chapter is nothing like I wanted it to be. It is rushed, short and I don't think it makes any sense, but it has the information that I want in it. Also, I am looking for someone who will beta. Put it in a review or send me an email at blackrosedemise gmail . Com (without the spaces of course)_


	3. The Letter and The Plan

**A/N: There is an important note after the story so please read it...**

**Disclaimer: Once again I say I don't own any of the characters, places, etc. The only thing I own is the plot.**

_My Dearest Hermione,_

_How are you? I am lost without you. Ever since you left I haven't felt the same. I tried to replace you, but no one makes me feel as you did. I still have one of your shirts that smells like you. I look forward to seeing you in a few months over Christmas break. I miss the feel of you under me at night. I might have to get a hold of Dumbledore and see if you can leave school for a couple of days before break, for I fear that I won't make it until then._

_With all my love,_

_Your Father_

Hermione dropped the letter back onto her bead, shaking with anger and fear. _That_ man was going to talk to Dumbledore.

"He's not my father! I w-wish m-my mother had n-never married him!" She stuttered through her tears, picking up a glass by her head and throwing it at the wall.

"Why did she have to marry him?" She whispered collapsing onto her bed in tears.

"Hey Granger, keep it down! I'm entertaining out here." She heard Draco yell up the stairs.

"Sod off ferret!" She yelled opening the door and looking down at him, tears still streaming down her face.

For a second she thought that she saw horror, worry, and sadness flicker over Draco's face before it went back to his normal indifferent mask. '_A trick of the light_' she thought looking at him still.

"Why don't you go whine to Potty and Weasel so that we can have some peace here." he said, his trademark smirk on his face.

"I'm not in the mood for you Malfoy!"

"Then leave!"

For once Hermione actually followed the "advice" of Draco Malfoy. She quickly ran out of the common room, the tears once again flowing.

Hermione blindly ran through the halls trying to find the two people that had always been there for her, were like brothers to her, Harry and Ron. People were yelling for her to watch where she was going but she ignored them all, her mind running on one track. She needed a shoulder to cry on, someone who would help her without asking too many questions.

As was about to round a corner she heard the voices of the two people she was looking for. But something didn't sound right to her. They were arguing, about her. Even though she was distraught she was still Hermione Granger, know-it-all Gryffindor, and she was curious as to what was going on.

"Harry shut up and listen, we planned this since after we became friends with her after the whole troll thing. We can't stop what has already been set in motion just because you are having second thoughts. So just get over it, it's going to happen whether you want to stop it or not."

"But Ron, don't you see. I didn't know her when we came up with this. She is like a sister to me now and I don't think I can do it. Plus she is smarter than us, she will realize what is going on and she will-"

"She will what Harry? Find a way to stop it? Even if she figures it out it is already too late. She is going to die, you will finally be able to fight He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named instead of cowering in the corner when you see him. Don't you see Harry, I am doing this for you. Once Hermione is dead, once you have her powers, you will be able to defeat Him. Don't you see? You will finally have a normal life, a life without fear. This is for the best. Do you trust me?"

"Yes Ron, but I still don't think that this is the only way that we can do this. Isn't there someone else we can sacrifice, someone else's powers we can take to do this?"

"Who is there that is as powerful as Hermione? Who trusts us enough to do anything for us?"

"I guess you're right Ron... I guess we have to kill her for everyone to have a normal life..."

"Exactly, now come on. Let's go back to the common room and play Wizard's Chess."

Hermione held her breath as she heard them walk the opposite way from where she was hiding. Once she knew they were gone she collapsed to the ground, tears once again pooling behind her eyes. '_How? How could they plan something like this? I trusted them, I loved them, they were everything to me... And this whole time I was just a pawn in their game, a pawn that they were going to kill... Well their plan isn't going to work. I won't let it!' _After she had caught her breath she got up and started walking back to her common room, her thoughts centered on how to survive.

**A/N: I have finally realized that I shouldn't make promises on when I am going to update, because something always happens that makes me break them. But I can make you a couple promises with this story.**

**I **_**will **_**finish this story, it is my favorite chaptered story that I have because of the comments given to me the last time I tried to write this.**

**There will be another chapter up really soon (hopefully tonight). I can promise this time because the next chapter was originally planned to be in this chapter, but I felt this was a good stopping place. So it is already planned, all I have to do it type it up.**

**After the next couple chapters this story should (again hopefully) be updated faster because I already have it typed up, as I have already posted this story once. If you want info on what happened the last time just email me or put it in a review that you want to know and I will respond and let you know.**


	4. The Proposition

**A/N: This chapter may be a little weird (yes I am writing my author's note before I even start writing the chapter). I have it planned, but I have no idea how to make it work to where there won't be any flames. So I apologize in advance if this chapter doesn't flow how it should...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. It belongs to J.K. Rowling's brilliant mind.**

"Draco I don't know why you don't want to get the Dark Mark. It's an honor!" Pansy Parkinson screeched. Hermione, who was lying in her bed thinking, quickly went to her door to see if she could hear anything else about why he didn't want to get it.

"Because Pansy I don't want to be branded like a common house elf! I am a Malfoy, and even if my father couldn't hold up the good name I will. I am not going to be a servant to someone like Voldemort. I am not going to have the Malfoy named controlled by some snake-faced psycho."

"But Draco don't you understand, if you don't join Him, He will kill you, and your mother too most likely. You don't want that! Just think of how respected you could be. Your father is already Lord Voldemort's right hand man. You could be just like him, you could end up the heir. You don't want your mother to die!"

"I don't, but as much as I love my mother she supports me in this. She didn't get the mark, and she isn't going to make me get it either."

"So you are just going to let her die because you are a selfish coward?"

Hermione heard Malfoy jump up from where ever he was sitting, and from the sound of Pansy's squeak she guessed that he had grabbed her.

"Never! Never call me a coward! You don't understand anything Pansy!"

"Draco, please, I'm sorry. You are like my brother, please let me go, I'm so sorry."

"Leave Pansy I don't feel like talking to you anymore."

"Draco..."

"Just leave!" Hermione heard him say before both the portrait and the door to his room closed.

Hermione carefully closed her bedroom door, not wanting Malfoy to know yet that she had overheard his conversation. The Dark Mark. The brand that showed everyone who saw it that you served the Dark Lord. It was treated like a contagious disease. Once someone found out you had it, everyone found out and you were treated like a leper.

It was the symbol of the one thing that she had fought against since she first came to Hogwarts. It was the symbol of the one thing that Harry and Ron hated. And it was the symbol of the one thing that, if she could find a way, would save her from them.

The only problem was that she was a muggle-born witch, the thing that Voldemort hated. He would probably kill her on sight. It would be suicide to try to join without someone's help. Someone on the inside, or someone that knew someone on the inside. Someone like Malfoy.

The only Hermione had yet to figure out was how to approach him about this. He had made his feelings on the whole Death Eater business clear. He wouldn't never offer to help her. He would probably just smirk and ask why she, a mudblood, could become a Death Eater.

But what choice did she have? It was either die by the hands of Voldemort, or by what she thought of as her brothers.

Her mind made up, Hermione knocked on Draco's bedroom door.

"Go away Granger!"

"Malfoy I need your help!"

"Why would I help you?"

"Because you hate Harry and Ron and what I need your help with could help you get revenge on them"

"I'm intrigued Granger. I'll hear you out, but I probably won't help you." Draco said opening his door and looking at her.

"I need you to help me get the Dark Mark."

**A/N: This actually turned out better than I thought it would, which isn't really saying much. Well two updates in one day, I think I am doing better. I don't know when the next chapter will be up as I have a lot of planning I have to do... making Hermione a Death Eater is going to be complicated...**

**Also sorry that this is pretty short, like I said in the last chapter this is the second half of it and it set it up perfectly for the rest of the story.**

**So thanks for reading and please review and let me know what you think. Leave me suggestions if you want and I will definitely take them into consideration. **


	5. The Explanation Pt 1

**Chapter 5: The Explanation Pt. 1**

**A/N: I wanted to inform everyone that I think this is the longest chapter that I have every posted. I also want to apologize about the long wait... but I'll say more at the end.**..

_Recap:_

"_Malfoy I need your help!"_

"_Why would I help you?"_

"_Because you hate Harry and Ron and what I need your help with could help you get revenge on them"_

"_I'm intrigued Granger. I'll hear you out, but I probably won't help you." Draco said opening his door and looking at her._

"_I need you to help me get the Dark Mark."_

"No!" Draco said, his eyes wide, before he slammed the door in her face.

"Please, you don't understand, it's my only choice. Please just hear me out!" Hermione pleaded. She started knocking on the door when she realized that there wasn't going to be any response. "Malfoy open this door right now or I will hex you so bad that you won't remember what your name is."

"That's a new one Granger, now how about you leave me alone so that I can pay attention to something actually important."

"Will you please just hear me out before you make up your mind? I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Okay I'll listen but you will owe me one no matter what happens afterwards."

"Deal."

"You should have waited until I was done talking, then you would have heard me say that I will listen but my mind is already made up not to help you."

"Maybe it will change when you hear what is going on."

"I doubt it." He said as he held the door open for Hermione to enter his room.

"Thank you for listening to me."

"Don't thank me yet, you still owe me a favor now."

"I know..."

"Well get on with it, I don't have all day to listen to your demented ramblings."

"Okay well I guess I should start from the beginning. You probably already guessed this from the letter that you read, but well... this summer something happened to me that ruined my life forever. My step-father, he raped me. I should have seen it coming with all of the things that had been happening at home..."

(I was going to end it here, but I want to give you an extra long chapter, so I'm going to do a flashback, which is going to be lengthy, and then end it .)

_3 months earlier..._

"Hermione, get in here now!"

"I'm coming!" She yelled back to her step-father. She refused to call him her father. The only dad she had had been dead for 5 months. Surprisingly he wasn't killed by anything magic related, considering the role that Hermione played in the magical world. He died of lung cancer, yet he had never smoked a cigarette his whole life. Hermione couldn't understand how it had happened. He had seemed so healthy the last time she had seen him. Then, after what seemed like only a couple days, although it had been a few months, he was dead.

Her mother had met Cole, her step-father, when she was at the hospital. He was the doctor who had been in charge of her father's case. He had been there to comfort her mother, and a few weeks later she went on a date with him. Hermione was furious with her mom. Her dad had only been dead for a few weeks, and yet her mom was already dating. 

A few weeks after Cole and her mom had started dating, they went on vacation to Vegas. Hermione got an owl at Hogwarts informing her that her mother had married Cole and that she would have to learn to accept it. She was told she was to treat Cole as if he really was her father, but Hermione refused to. That's how all of the problems started.

"What do you want Cole? I was studying." Hermione said trying to make him hurry.

"You will not talk to me like that Hermione. I'm your father and you need to respect me!"

"Sorry." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She had heard this same line since she first got off the train. She had learned early on that unless she apologized that Cole would lecture her for hours.

"Accepted. I just wanted to let you know that I'm taking your mother to the airport now, and that I'll be back in a few hours."

"Wait, what? Where is mom going?"

"Didn't she tell you? She is going to a dentist convention in America and she is going to be there for most of the summer." 

Hermione couldn't believe her mother would leave so suddenly, but soon came to accept that it was the truth. Cole began to come home later and later from work, smelling like alcohol each time. Hermione did her best to avoid him when he was like this, but sometimes she couldn't. 

It started out relatively harmless, he would barge into her room and tell her that he loved her and her mother. That he would always be there for them. Slowly though, it progressed into something dangerous. Hermione soon started staying out later with her friends. When Cole realized what she was doing he began to accuse her of being promiscuous. No matter how much she denied it he always told her she was lying.

She finally realized how much danger she was in a few nights later. She had stayed out late with some of her friends and had gone to a concert. When it was over her friend, Mark, had said that he would walk her home. On the way there Cole drove by and saw her. He yelled at her until she got in the car with him.

When they got home he slammed into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He told her that she was a whore and that he didn't deserve to be treated like this. He came at her a few times, but she managed to dodge it each time. He eventually realized that she was to fast for him, so he used his height and weight to his advantage. He ended up tackling her to the ground and beating her. He apologized the next day and promised that it wouldn't happen again.

Hermione didn't believe him. It continued on for another month, eventually resulting in him raping her. Once he realized that her spirit was broken when it came to him he gave up on her, knowing that nothing would change until she went to Hogwarts.

_Present..._

"Why are you telling me this?" Draco asked. His face was white from hearing of the horrors that had happened, and he sounded for a second like he cared about her. Quickly realizing this he glared at Hermione. "It's not like I really care what happens to a mudblood like you."

"I'm going to ignore that last comment." Hermione said, surprisingly calm for having just told the story of her worst summer ever. "And I'm telling you this because we agreed that you would listen to why I need your help. This is one of the reasons. When I told Harry and Ron about what happened, they didn't believe me."

"Your two best friends didn't believe you about what happened? Why?"

"Well see, there is something that no one really knows. Harry puts on a brave face when people are watching but that is not him. Unless he has Ron or me around him, he really isn't brave at all. I guess it comes from living with the Dursley's and having to deal with all of the abuse. When he is with us he shows how he really is, weak-minded and easy to control. He listens to me, but agrees with anything that Ron says. And since I told Ron last year that he was and would always be only my brother, he has turned Harry against me. When I told them what happened Ron told me that I needed to stop coming up with lies to get attention, that my part in the war was on the sidelines. That's why I was so upset when you came into the common room."

"Okay, I get that part. I find it hilarious that Potter is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is. That might explain why it is always you or Weasley that stands up to me. Anyway, keep going, this is actually starting to get entertaining."

"I'm glad that you find all of this so amusing, but I'm being serious."

"I'm not going to apologize."

"I would never apologize to you, so why should I ever expect that you would."

"Good point, now continue."

**A/N: I'm sorry to end this here but really I have to stop eventually, and I figure I can stop here and hopefully get out two chapters for you guys fairly quickly. This story is gradually becoming harder to write. No matter which way I take it, it is going to end up cliché and that is something I really was trying to avoid. **

_**IMPORTANT: Please do two things for me. Please review if you read the story, and please put in that review (even if you already have) who you think she should end up with. It can be one of three people, and I'll put a reason beside each of them.**_

1. Draco Malfoy (would make for harder writing, but it is what I told some people it was going to be.)  
2. Snape (I just thought of this one as I was typing this, so if chosen I would need to re-write what is happening in the story, but since I type each chapter from the top of my head, that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

_**3. Lucius (this could maybe work out, and I have never written this pairing before so it would be different**_

_**4.. Voldemort (this would actually be the easiest and would make more sense than the other two, in my opinion. I have it mapped out already for what would happen if Hermione were to end up with him...)**_

I will take all suggestions into consideration and whichever guy ends up with the most votes will win. 

_**The best part of it all is that you can get your choice counted twice. All you have to do is review this chapter, and when I get the next chapter up, review that one and put your choice in it too. You only have this chapter and the next one to help me decide since these two chapters have a re-cap/explanation of everything that happened so far.**_


	6. The Explanation Pt 2

**Chapter 6: The Explanation Pt. 2**

**A/N: I realized just now that there are some mistakes with spelling and grammar in the last chapter, and I want to apologize for that. I'm not going to go back and fix it right now though. My main concern is to make sure that you have something to read. And the problems that I found were very minor things. Now on to the chapter:**

_Recap:_

"_Okay, I get that part. I find it hilarious that Potter is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is. That might explain why it is always you or Weasley that stands up to me. Anyway, keep going, this is actually starting to get entertaining."_

"_I'm glad that you find all of this so amusing, but I'm being serious."_

"_I'm not going to apologize."_

"_I would never apologize to you, so why should I ever expect that you would."_

"_Good point, now continue."_

"Okay well, like I said, that was the reason that I was so upset when you came into the common room. Later on, when you kicked me out because Pansy was there, I ran into Harry and Ron. They didn't realize I was there, and I am glad that they didn't. If they had I wouldn't know what I do now. They were talking about a plan that they had come up with all the way back in first year. They are planning on killing me so that Harry can absorb my magic so he will be strong enough to fight Voldemort and win."

"You cannot be serious! You really believe that your two friends who have been there for you for how long now, would seriously contemplate killing you?"

"When it comes to destroying Voldemort they would do anything."

"Amazing."

"Anyway, I refuse to let that happen. I am not going to let them use me like that. I'm not going to die just so Harry can defeat Voldemort. I know that sounds selfish, and it is, but I'm not going to. I came to Hogwarts so I could feel safe, and now even that has been taken away from me. I would rather be a traitor than have no where that is safe for me anymore. I just can't live like that."

"You are right you won't live. It would be suicide for you to try to join the ranks of the Death Eaters. You are the very thing they are trying to exterminate. If you even step one foot onto their territory you will be killed. And it won't be by the Killing Curse either. It will be the longest, most painful death you can imagine."

"I'll risk it. I would rather die to people that have never tried to make me believe that they were my friends... So will you help me?"

"No."

"What? Why!"

"I told you before you even started explaining to me that my mind was already made up not to help you. I also told you that it wouldn't change just because you explained it to me. Why would I help you?"

"Because you hate Harry and Ron. Because you would do anything to destroy them. Because you know I have no other choice."

"Something I've learned Granger, there is always another choice, you are just to weak to take it. I refuse to help you destroy your life and the lives of all of your friends, but I'm not going to stop you. I won't tell anyone what you are doing, only because I don't think you will succeed in it. Either you are going to be too scared to do it, or you will die. Both are fine with me, I couldn't care either way."

"I hate you!"

"I know you do. I hate you too. But you still owe me. I'm not going to forget that."

"You aren't going to help me, so I don't owe you anything!"

"Ah, but that is where you would, once again, be wrong. You said that if I listened to you, you would do anything. I told you that you would still have to owe me a favor even if I decided not to help you, and you agreed. So you still owe me one."

"Again, I just have to say this. I hate you!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." 

**A/N: Okay I know compared to my other chapter this is really short but it was mainly to finish out the explanation and to satisfy all of you readers. Two updates in one day, is that satisfactory? Now that I know where I am going with this I feel like writing it again. But it is going to be a while until my next update since I am going to wait until all of the votes are in. So expect an update, but don't expect it to be within the next week.**

**PLEASE REVIEW AND VOTE! **


	7. A little help

**Chapter 7(?): A Little Help**

**A/N: Okay sorry it took so long to get this out. Between being a Beta for a friend, family problems, and school I'm beat. But hopefully you guys will enjoy this. But I'm going to end this note. Please read the one at the bottom it's really really important.**

* * *

Hermione stormed out of Draco's room, fury radiating from her.

"That insufferable git! Wasting my time and enjoying every minute of it! He could have easily helped me!"

"Oh, but why would he want to Mudblood?" Pansy Parkinson asked, smirking.

"Just leave me alone!"

"Nice one. I don't think I've ever heard a comeback as well thought out as that one."

"Pansy I don't need this! I have to figure something out and I don't need to be bothered by a slut like you. Why don't you just leave already?"

"Because Draco asked me to come here."

"I doubt that. I heard him yelling at you and telling you to leave him alone earlier."

"He did not!"

"Whatever. I know what I heard. I'm leaving if you won't."

"Wait! I heard your conversation with Draco. I can help you."

"Why the sudden change in attitude?" Hermione asked, placing her hand on her hip.

"Because if I help you I can also get what I want."

"Explain."

"If you join the Death Eaters Draco will realize that it's something he should do. He hates you being better than him, so he would join, only to beat you. And if they kill you, well that's one less Mudblood to have to deal with."

"So what are you trying to say?" Hermione asked, purposefully ignoring Pansy's last comment.

"I'm saying I will help you. I'll take you to Draco's father and help you explain why you want to join."

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"If you don't want the help than forget it." Pansy said, walking towards Draco's room.

"Wait! I do need your help, as much as I hate admitting it."

Pansy turned around, smirking yet again. "I thought you would say that."

"So what do you need me to do?"

"Meet me by the Shrieking Shack at 7pm during the next Hogsmeade trip. I'll take you to him then."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"You don't." Pansy said, walking into Draco's room and closing the door.

* * *

It was 7 and Pansy was no where to be found.

"Why did I believe her? I should have known she wasn't going to show up."

"I am here Granger. Now listen, I told you I would take you, and I will. But you have to do everything that I tell you to."

"No."

"Then figure it out on your own."

"I won't do everything that you tell me to do, but I will listen. Deal?"

"Sure, whatever. Come on." Pansy said, walking towards the forest nearby.

"Where are you going?"

"To meet Lucius. You didn't think I was taking you to the Manor did you?"

"It would be safer."

"If you tried to enter the Manor without a Malfoy or without a password, you would be automatically killed. Since I'm not going to go through all of that trouble this is the only option. Now are you coming or not?"

"Yes I'm coming."

**A/N: Sorry but I'm skipping the meeting with Lucius. It's not really that important since all that happens is Hermione explains why she is doing this. She already explained to Draco and it's the same story, with Pansy helping every once in a while. **

Hermione looked at the clock 10 o'clock. It had taken an hour to get to where they were meeting Lucius. Then they had to wait for half an hour just for him to show up. Hermione had almost given up, but right as she was about to walk away, he appeared. Ten minutes later he had agreed, although he had laughed and said it was only because he wanted to see Voldemort kill her.

She was to meet with Voldemort over Christmas Break. It was less than a week away. Lucius had told her to go with Pansy and he would meet her, Pansy, and Draco at Pansy's house.

She couldn't believe her luck. Not only was she going to be a Death Eater, but this was also a chance to escape her Step-Father over Christmas Break.

Less than a week from now she would be safe from death by Harry's hands.

She would be safe from more abuse.

Closing her eyes she quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Okay so that's the end of this chapter. Hopefully there won't be too many questions. If you have any please don't hesitate to ask in a review. I'll post the answers (at least to the ones I can) in the next chapter.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!**

**Okay now the IMPORTANT PART: Would you guys completely hate me if I skipped to where she got the Dark Mark and just did flash backs in the chapter? Or would you rather just have those chapters, even if they are fairly short. Once I have a good amount of responses I will continue. Either way I already pretty much have it wrote out so just let me know in a review please. If no one answers I'll just pick a way.**


	8. Preparations

**A/N: I decided to go ahead and update because a lot of things are about to happen and I don't know when I will have the time to update again. My mom is going to be having surgery tomorrow and I'm going to be helping her recover and helping my dad out at work. This is mainly a filler chapter, just here to keep you guys happy until I can update again. Don't skip it though, because while it is a filler chapter, there are one or two important things in it. **

**Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and added this to their alerts/favorites. **

**Chapter 8: Preparations**

Hermione awoke to the sound of someone beating on her door. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she threw the covers off of her body and walked over to the door.

"I'm coming!" Hermione yelled as the person beat on the door again. She couldn't believe who was standing there.

"Malfoy! Whatever you want, it can wait. It's Sunday, I need my sleep."

"This can't wait Granger. I want to know why Pansy wanted to see you this morning, and why my father sent you this letter. Now explain."

"It's none of your business. And I honestly don't know the answer to either of those. Now give me my letter."

"I don't know if I want to. The last time I read one of your letters, I found out something very interesting. Maybe I should read this one too."

"Accio letter!" Hermione said, smirking a very Malfoy like smirk as the letter flew into her hand. "Thank you for being so kind as to bring this to me. Now leave."

"All Draco could do was glare at Hermione as she slammed the door in his face.

"Stupid...insufferable..." Hermione mumbled as she dropped onto her bed, looking at the letter in her hand.

"I guess I should go ahead and open it, I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon."

Standing up and walking to her desk she opened the letter.

_Miss Granger,_

_I have spoken to my lord about you. He is intrigued._

_I was instructed to tell you that he will meet with you the second day of your break._

_I recommend you dress in something fitting to meet him. If you do not own something appropriate then ask Miss Parkinson. I'm sure she can help you find something._

_Lucius Malfoy_

Hermione sighed. Even in a letter Lucius could make her feel horrible about herself. As she looked over to her wardrobe she realized that she didn't have anything she could wear.

Deciding that she had no other choice, she got dressed and left to go find Pansy.

* * *

"I wish I had more time. There is no way I can find you something." Pansy said as she looked through her clothes.

"Pansy, we have a week. There is no rush."

"We have _less than_ a week to find you a dress, find accessories to match, and tame your hair. There is no way we can get all of that done."

Hermione was surprised. When she had found Pansy and told her what she needed help with, the Slytherin had warmed to her. Although she didn't think it was possible, Hermione was beginning to like Pansy, and it had only been a day.

"Granger! Are you paying any attention to what I'm saying?"

"No, sorry. This isn't really in my area of expertise. That's why I asked you for help. And can't you call me Hermione?"

"Fine, Hermione. Now can we get back to what we are doing?"

"I guess."

It took hours, but finally Pansy found something that Hermione could wear.

It was a simple black dress, but when Hermione put it on she felt regal. The empire style accentuated her slim waist and perfect posture. It flowed around her legs, making her feel like she was walking through a could. The silky texture was like a second skin. It was the perfect dress.

"Thank you Pansy." Hermione said, getting ready to go back to her room.

"Don't thank me yet. We have a lot more we have to do before you are ready. And try to find some shoes to match it. I don't want to do all of the work."

"No problem...I hope." She said, leaving.

"And don't mess it up!" Pansy yelled, but Hermione wasn't paying any attention. All she could think about was her future.

* * *

**A/N: Like I said this was just a filler chapter. But hopefully you guys like it. I normally don't like to do this, but I am feeling a little less than loved when it comes to reviews. So I'm begging you to push that little button down there and leave me a review. It can be long, it can be short, I really don't care as long as it is a review. Thanks to everyone who reads this!**


	9. Serpentigena

**A/N: Okay so I've realized that I have gotten really off track with this story. I haven't included Harry or Ron since chapter three and she has yet to get the mark. So this is going to be the last chapter that is off track. After this chapter I promise that she will get the mark, and you will find out who her love interest is. Hopefully this story will begin to follow the plan I had when I started.**

**Many thanks to Chocolate Cherry-Chan and TheCresentMoonWriter! You guys are what keeps me writing .**

**Now on to the last frivolous chapter**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Serpentigena**

It was Saturday. Two days until Christmas Break started. Six days since Pansy had helped her find a dress. And yet she still didn't have a complete outfit. She had the dress and she had the shoes. She had the hair and makeup. The only thing she was missing, according to Pansy, was the jewelry.

Hermione personally didn't think that Voldemort would care if she wore a silver or gold bracelet. And yet she was getting frustrated that she couldn't find anything.

"Hermione! Come on! We have two days to find you the perfect jewels! And it's a Hogsmeade weekend. I know you are ready! Now get out here!" Pansy screamed, banging on Hermione's door.

"She's not in there Pans. And what do you want her for anyway?" Draco said, coming out of his room to investigate the noise that kept him from sleeping.

"Drake! You're not mad at me anymore?" Pansy asked, running up to Draco and hugging him.

"Pans! Get off!"

"Sorry..." Pansy said, backing away from him, pouting.

"No, I'm not mad at you anymore, I'm just sore from Quidditch. And you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh I'm taking Hermione shopping."

"I figured that. But why? And since when are you on first name basis with Granger?"

"I wish I could tell you, but it's a secret!"

"You know how much I love secrets." Draco said with a grimace on his face.

"Sorry Drake, but you're going to have to live with not knowing this one, yet." Pansy said, kissing Draco on the cheek and walking out of the common room to find Hermione.

* * *

"Pansy, I'm tired. We haven't found anything and we've been shopping for hours. Please let's just leave already!"

"Not until we find you something! This is our last chance!"

"We aren't going to at this rate! You don't like anything we have seen!"

"That's because nothing here is right!"

"Well let's just give up! I don't think it's going to matter what I wear! I could go naked and I would probably have the same chance as getting in as I have now!"

"If you are going to complain, then you must not want my help! I'm leaving!"

"Pansy wait!" Hermione yelled, but it was too late, Pansy had already stormed out.

* * *

_Stupid jewelery! Or actually, stupid lack of jewelry! How hard can it be to find a stupid bracelet! It's a plain black dress, it matches everything! _

"Hermione... Hermione!" Someone said in her ear.

"What?" She said, looking up from her Potion's essay.

"Just thought I would tell you that this owl has been pecking at you for the past half hour."

"Oh, thanks!" She said, trying to remember the girl's name who had told her.

"Not a problem. And it's Megan by the way." The girl said. "You might want to open it, you shouldn't keep a Malfoy waiting."

"What?"

Megan just responded with a wink and walked away.

Shaking her head, Hermione watched Megan walk away. She was a year younger than Hermione and had never really caught her attention. Deciding to think about it later, Hermione took the box the owl was pushing towards her and opened the note that was attached to it.

_Miss Granger,_

_  
A gift. Maybe this will help you feel more confident when you face Him._

_Lucius Malfoy_

Taking one last look at the note in confusion, she opened the plain black box. What she saw inside surprised her.

She had never seen anything that was as beautiful as it was. A long silver filigreed snake, with eyes that were rubies. Along it's back were small evenly spaced diamonds. Reaching into the box she slowly stroked a finger down the snake's back. It was gorgeous, but she couldn't see how it could possibly help her when she faced Voldemort, at least until it started to move.

Hermione quickly pulled her hand away from the snake, but she wasn't fast enough. The snake slithered up her arm and wound around her wrist before becoming immobile. Fearing that it was cursed, she tried her hardest to get it off, but the snake wouldn't budge.

Sighing Hermione got up and left the Gryffindor common room to search for the one person who could tell her why.

* * *

"Malfoy! Are you in here?" Hermione yelled while entering the Heads common room.

"Hermione, we are in Drake's room!" She heard Pansy yell to her.

"Pans, why did you have to tell her that?" Draco moaned. Hermione thought she could hear Pansy giggling the closer she got to the door.

"Malfoy I have a question. Do you recognize this?" Hermione said, showing him her wrist.

"It's a wrist."

"Drake! Look at the bracelet on her wrist! Oh Hermione it's perfect! Where did you find it?"

"Lucius sent it to me."

"What! Let me see that!" Draco said, jumping up from his bed to grab her wrist. "Where did you say you got this?"

"I told you. Your father sent it to me."

"Take it off Granger, now."

"I can't, that's why I came to see you. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that this is a Malfoy family heirloom and it should not be on a Mudblood's wrist!"

"Drake! Be nice. If Lucius sent it to her then it is hers."

"But Pans, look at it closer. Don't you recognize it?"

Pansy's eyes slowly grew larger as she realized what was so special about it.

"What is it? What are you not telling me?"

"This isn't just a family heirloom Hermione. It's a powerful object, one of the most powerful in the Wizarding world."

"Okay, well, explain."

"The name of it is Serpentigena. When translated it literally means sprung from a serpent. This bracelet hatched from the only egg of Ouroboros. When you stroke it from its head to its back it winds around your wrist. It provides a sense of calm to the wearer during stressful situations. While this may not seem like much Granger, it is very useful in certain situations." Draco explained, staring at the bracelet the whole time.

"So how do I get it off?"

"You would have to ask my father."

"But don't do it until after your meeting!" Pansy said. "That will look so amazing with your dress!"

"What meeting?" Draco asked.

The only answer he received was a smile shared between Pansy and Hermione.

**A/N: I'm so sorry if this seems choppy or anything. This was the hardest chapter for me to write so far. Cookies to everyone who reviews!**


	10. More Preparations

**A/N: Okay things are going to start getting back on track now, and the only way I can do this is to skip past the last couple days at Hogwarts, and skip past where Lucius meets them when they get to Pansy's. This chapter is going to start with Lucius talking to Hermione about what is going to happen when she meets Voldy. Sorry if anyone wanted to read those parts, but I really need to get this back on track...**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Preparations**

"The mark cannot be disguised by any means. No spell, charm, or hex will make it invisible. It can not be covered up by any muggle invention. Once it is upon your skin you will not be able to hide it. Clothes may cover it but there are risks involved. Do you understand now?"

Lucius' explanation caused Hermione to think. She would only be able to wear long sleeves no matter what the weather.

"Well foolish girl, do you understand?"

"Yes Lucius, I do. And it doesn't change how I feel. I want my revenge. I want to see the worlds precious Harry Potter go down. I want to help bring it about."

"Very well I will take you to see him in an hours time, but do not expect it to be easy. Now go and prepare."

Hermione stood up and bowed her head to Lucius before calmly walking to the room she had been given. When Lucius had met them at the platform she was a little worried that he wasn't going to keep up his end of the deal.

She spent the whole first day of break worrying about that. Lucius seemed to be able to be everywhere, but nowhere when Hermione was looking for him. Pansy eventually tired of having to trail Hermione everywhere, as it would have been easy for her to get lost, and told her that she did not need to try to find Lucius, he would find her when he wanted to speak with her.

Finally he sent for her. He explained everything she would have to go through while meeting with Voldemort. He seemed to be trying to scare her out of getting the mark, but she refused to let him change her mind.

Looking at the clock by her bed she saw that she had spent 30 minutes just thinking about what had happened already. Quickly she got up and threw on her dress.

As she walked down the stairs to the portkey she realized that she had forgotten to ask Lucius about the bracelet yet again.

* * *

She was nervous, no nervous wasn't quite the word for how she was feeling. She had to finally admit to herself that she was terrified. Voldemort was behind that door, waiting for her. As soon as she walked through that door she would either die or be allowed into the Death Eaters. Preparing herself she rapped on the door twice and entered.

* * *

**A/N: I told you that if I broke it up into more chapters to explain what she goes through that they would be small. If you want me to keep doing small chapters I can, but if you would rather a long chapter next I set this up to where I could do that.**

**Sexy Slytherins to everyone who reviews!**


	11. Veritaserum

**A/N: Wow I have been getting these chapters out a lot faster than normal... I guess it's cause I'm finally getting to the part of the story that I was excited about trying to write. So here is a treat, two updates in less than 24 hours!!  
**

**I got my first flame for this story! Yeah I have to admit I'm a little excited, 10 chapters before I got a flame. Please read the author's note at the end of the chapter so I can clear some things up that were brought up in the flame...**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Veritaserum**

"Miss Granger, welcome. I promised Lucius that I would give you a few minutes to explain yourself before I killed you, and today I am in the mood to keep my word. So please, come, sit, relax, have something to drink." Voldemort said, gesturing to the table that he was sitting at, and the goblet in front of one of the seats.

Hermione knew that it was not a request, rather it was a command. Not wanting to start out by disobeying she quickly walked to the table. As she was about to sit down she heard someone clear their throat.

"Miss Granger, I believe you are forgetting something." Lucius said.

"Of course, my apologies." She said, turning to Voldemort and bowing before sitting down.

While waiting for permission to begin speaking, Hermione looked around the table she was sitting at. There were chairs set up for five other Death Eaters, but all were empty except for the chair's occupied by Voldemort and Lucius.

"Miss Granger aren't you thirsty?" Lucius hissed to her, while pointing at her untouched goblet.

Hermione, worried that she might offend if she didn't drink anything, quickly picked up her glass and drank some. _Weird, _Hermione thought. _This doesn't taste quite right._

"Please proceed Lucius." Voldemort suddenly said, causing Hermione to jump a little, spilling some of her drink onto her dress.

"Yes My Lord." Lucius said before turning to face Hermione. "Miss Granger, what is your full name?"

"Hermione Jean Granger. Hermione is the name of a character in Shakespe-"

"Enough! You will answer only the question that is asked without any excess. If you continue to do so you will face punishment!" Voldemort interrupted.

"I'm sorry My Lord for the girl's impudence. It will not happen again."

"It had better not, for your sake Lucius."

During their exchange Hermione realized something was not right. When Lucius had asked her what her name was she couldn't keep herself from answering. Suddenly she figured it out. Lucius had told her that she was going to be tested on her loyalty, and if she passed that she would be tested on her skills. _He must have slipped Veritaserum into my drink, that's why they both were so anxious for me to drink something! _

"Miss Granger, if you would kindly pay attention we can continue. How old are you?"

"18, thanks to the time turner I used in my third year. A magical thing that was. Did you know that you ca-" Hermione had never felt pain like she was now experiencing before. All she could do was scream. It felt like her insides were melting, and like someone was ripping her apart bit by bit.

"You would do well to only answer the question like he said. This isn't class, little girl. Don't explain things that he already knows," Lucius whispered into Hermione's ear once Voldemort had removed the curse.

"I apologize again My Lord. This foolish chit has yet to learn when to keep her mouth shut." Lucius said, bowing. All he received in response was a blood-chilling glare.

"Continue Malfoy."

"Yes My Lord. Hermione what is your true reason for wanting to join the ranks of the Death Eaters?"

"I want to prove to everyone that I'm not just a know-it-all goody-two-shoes. I also want to see Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter die, preferably by my hand."

Lucius was astonished. He had heard her explanation of why she wanted to enter, but she had never said that she wanted to be the one to kill them. The third member of the "Golden Trio" wanted her best friends killed.

"Would you submit to anything our lord asked of you?"

"Yes."

"Would your loyalty lie only with him?"

"Of course."

"Do you plan on ever betraying him?"

"Never, this is the winning side, why would I risk myself in that way?"

"Very good. We are done with the questioning." Lucius said, rising to give her the antidote.

"Not quite yet, Lucius. I have a couple of questions for her. Miss Granger, what are Dumbledore's plans of attack?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure of them. He is holding a meeting in a few days. We are all to meet at Number 12, Grimmauld place where he will tell us what our next course of action is."

"So you are a member of his idiotic Order?"

"An unofficial member. He refuses to let us join until we have graduated, but he is letting us sit in on some of the meetings. He told us this was an important one, so he told us to show up for it."

"Give her the antidote Lucius."

"Yes My Lord." Lucius said as he administered the antidote.

"Lucius take Miss Granger to another room and then return. We have some things to discuss before we can continue with her testing."

* * *

After 30 minutes of waiting anxiously to find out what was going to happen next, Hermione was summoned back to the room Voldemort was waiting in. However when she arrived there, Lucius was the only one waiting.

"Congratulations Miss Granger, you successfully completed your first test. The Dark Lord was called away for... an important meeting, but he told me to continue with your testing until he is able to return."

"So what is next?" Hermione asked, feeling strangely calm.

"Next you will be tested on your skills. You will perform some advanced spells, as well as some basic ones that will come in handy."

"Is that all?"

"I would remind you not to talk so casually with the Dark Lord, but yes, for your initial tests, that is all. Once you have completed these you will receive the Mark and further testing will be administered to determine where you will be stationed."

"This is a lot more organized than Dumbledore led us to believe."

"That old fool knows nothing about what goes on here, no matter what he foolishly thinks. Now enough talking we must begin with the last phase of your testing."

Hermione was told to perform many spells that she had only read about in the restricted section, as well as the spells she had learned in her first year.

Along with having to perform them she was forced to submit to some of the less dangerous spells so she could know what it felt like, so as to be able to use them better.

By the time she was finished she was exhausted, and in a little pain. She was told to go back to the room she had been waiting in to take a break.

Dragging her feet she eventually made it to her room and collapsed onto the bed.

* * *

**A/N: So there it is! Hopefully it's up to standards, since it's about 2 AM here.**

**To clear some things up (that I thought I had already done) here is a little information:  
**

**1. The reason Hermione is able to go to Draco so much is because they are Head Girl and Head Boy, respectively. Therefore they share a common room. **

**2. This story is fiction. Therefore anything that I want to happen in it can happen. If I wanted Hermione to be a purple skinned pink haired elf I could. SO, therefore if I want Harry and Ron to want to kill her and I want her to become a Death Eater I can.**

**Thanks to everyone else who reviewed.**

**Lovely cakes for everyone who reviews!**


	12. The Other Characters Thoughts

**A/N: Someone told me that they want to know what is going on with everyone else (ie: Lucius, Voldy, Ron, Harry, etc...), so this chapter is going to be what's going on with them. It's kinda going to be, I don't know how to put it, not a list but broken up into each of them so you know in case you were wondering. It's not going to be that long but I already have the next chapter ready, I'm just going to wait until I get the next chapter after that all ready before I get anymore up after this.**

Happy Reading (Sorry if that up there was confusing...) and at least read the part marked IMPORTANT.

* * *

Harry and the Weasleys:

It had been a while since Ron or Harry had heard from Hermione, but they weren't that worried. She was always disappearing for days at a time, and it was always for something school related. So even though they hadn't heard from her for almost a week they just went on as if there was nothing amiss.

Harry went to stay with Ron over winter break, as normal. During that time he became closer with Ginny, but both refused to admit how they were feeling.

Ron was disgusted with them. He didn't want his baby sister to be with anyone, especially not his best friend. He was always trying to make sure that they were never alone and ended up being scolded by his mother.

Mrs. Weasley was worried about Hermione. She normally came with Harry to visit over their breaks, but no one had heard from her in a while.

Mr. Weasley didn't really notice Hermione's mysterious disappearance, although he did wonder who would be able to explain to him what some of the muggle items he had discovered were for.

Fred and George were too busy inventing new prank items to even bother with worrying. They had plenty of people to experiment on, what was one missing person?

* * *

Dumbledore:

Professor Dumbledore was beside himself. He was wondering where Hermione was. He was used to knowing everything, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. When he asked Harry and Ron if they knew why she was acting different they said that she wasn't any different than normal.

When he received news from Severus that Lucius was helping one of the students become a Death Eater, he was worried. He racked his brain thinking of students that had been acting weird lately, but the only name that came up was Hermione's. He didn't think she would ever turn against his cause, so he put it out of his mind.

* * *

Lucius:

Lucius was confused. When he had first decided to help Hermione Granger he didn't think that he would begin to feel like this. At first he thought that it was something he ate, but every time he was around her he would start to feel like a normal person. He was beginning to think of her like a daughter, he was even able to overcome the fact that she was a muggle born witch. When he started helping her, it was mainly to see how far she would make it before she either gave up or was killed off. But now he wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that she succeeded. He had even asked the Dark Lord when they had their meeting if he could be the one to train her in the ways of the Death Eaters.

He had never felt this way about anyone, not even Draco, his legitimate son. But yet, he was starting to feel a growing bond between this young girl and himself.

* * *

Voldemort:

Voldemort was impressed. If you asked him what he felt he would curse you for questioning him, but to himself he admitted that he was impressed with the young woman.

Hermione Granger, mudblood, had gathered the courage to face him to ask for admittance into his group of elite wizards, knowing there was a chance she would be killed.

He still wanted to test her, see what he would find if he delved into her mind, but he was beginning to feel that she would be a wonderful addition to his group.

* * *

**A/N: I told you this would be short, and different than what I normally write. I don't really like taking the spotlight off of Hermione, since this is her journey, but it was requested of me. Although this probably wasn't what they had in mind...**

**For anyone who has noticed, I did go ahead and change the pairing to what it really is going to be for the rest of the story. I was going to keep it a secret but I decided that in case I get stuck I would rather have everyone know so they could give me ideas.**

**  
IMPORTANT:**

**  
Your choice! **

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	13. Fatherly Advice

**A/N: So I wasn't going to post this until I had wrote the next chapter, but I have hit the typical writer's block in this story so I'm going to go ahead and post this and hopefully get the next chapter ready soon.**

**Thanks for all of your reviews!**

* * *

Hermione woke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. _It's beginning to become a daily ritual!_ She thought.

As she sat up in bed she groaned, realizing how sore she actually was. Her body ached all over from being hit with curses repeatedly.

Hermione finally forced herself to get out of bed when the knocks on the door became louder. Whoever it was sounded like they were becoming frustrated with her.

"I'm coming! Calm down!" She yelled while opening the door.

"Miss Granger, I'm sure you are aware of the fact that you have gotten lucky. If anyone else was behind this door you would be dead now." Lucius said, walking into her room with the air of conceit he always had.

Hermione just grinned as she watched him walk around her room looking for somewhere to sit.

"Miss Granger, may I ask what you find amusing about dying?"

"Oh nothing. And you know you can just sit on the bed, right? There seems to be a disturbing lack of chairs in this room."

"I'll stand then. I'm only here to offer you some advice."

"I'm listening." Hermione said as she plopped back on to the bed and curled up with the pillow. Lucius' mouth turned up into a grin when he saw this, but it quickly disappeared into a scowl when he saw her looking.

"Miss Granger, that is hardly a dignified way to act in front of a guest."

"Hermione."

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Hermione. All of this Miss Granger stuff makes me feel like I'm 11 again."

"Hermione then, that is hardly a dignified way to act in front of a guest."

"Ah, but said guest has come here to offer me some, shall I say, fatherly advice. Therefore this is a very appropriate way to act around said guest."

Lucius just stared at her in astonishment, his mouth open.

"Is something wrong Lucius?"

"No, of course not." He said, quickly composing himself.

"If you say so," Hermione said, laughing as she snuggled up to the pillow even more. She knew he had acted that way because she had implied that she thought of him as a father figure. Of course she felt it was a little early to be thinking this way, but with the father figure she had right now in her life, she knew that she was making the right choice in feeling this way.

Since Lucius had found out her goal, he had helped her in every way possible. He had arranged a meeting with Voldemort, he had helped her find some jewelry to wear (which she still hadn't asked him about), and he had been almost kind to her ever since.

"Hermione, if you are willing to pay attention instead of daydream, I am about to give you some advice that might save your life."

"I'm listening."

"The Dark Lord is going to request that you dine with him. He is going to be testing you the whole time. He may seem to only be casually talking, but while you are distracted he will be sifting through your thoughts. Do not try to block him, it will only anger him and cause you pain. When dinner is over he will ask you to swear fealty to him. Do not hesitate. As soon as he has finished asking, you will bow and say 'Yes my Lord.' You will then receive the mark. He will do it in private as he always does for those that he believes have potential. Feel honored. When you are receiving the mark do not scream or cry, he will see it as a weakness and he will kill you. Accept the pain. Only then will you have his approval, and you will be under his protection. Do you understand?"

"I do, but won't you be punished for telling me this?"

"Only if he finds the memory. When you enter the room, try to think only of doing what you can to please him. Make it to where he is satisfied with you so it will end quickly."

"I'll try, but why are you telling me this?"

"Because for some unexplained reason, I want to see you succeed."

"Awww! You do care!" Hermione said, trying to lighten the mood.

Lucius smiled at her, an actual real smile. Hermione was shocked. She didn't think a Malfoy could express anything but distaste.

"Goodnight Miss Granger, and good luck." Lucius said, walking towards the door.

"Hermione!" Hermione said, causing Lucius to laugh as he walked out of the room.

Hermione walked over to her window, realizing that he had said goodnight instead of good morning. Peering out of it she saw that the light was beginning to fade.

Shaking her head she walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! I really enjoyed writing it. **

**I'm still looking for ideas or lines you want in the story.**

**Next Chapter_: _****Dining with the Dark Lord**


	14. Dining with the Dark Lord

**A/N: Hello all, here is a special treat for you. This is probably going to turn into my longest chapter yet, since it is 5 pages front and back and even then I decided to stop writing and finish the chapter at the beginning of 15. I don't know when I will update next as Mother's Day is here, and my birthday is on the 13th. So enjoy and please review. Also IMPORTANT AT BOTTOM PLEASE READ!**

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**Chapter 14: Dining with the Dark Lord**

Hermione stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and awake for the first time in a while. She was sure she should feel nervous about meeting with the Dark Lord in a little while, but she seemed to feel a sense of calm radiating from the bracelet that Lucius had sent her.

As she continued to stare at the bracelet, trying to figure out the secrets behind it, she felt like someone was watching her. Startled she looked up, only to find the one person she didn't want near her right now.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked, checking to make sure her towel covered as much as it could.

"The M-Master requests your presence tonight for d-dinner." Peter Pettigrew said, quickly scrambling out, only pausing to drop a package onto her bed.

"Filthy rat," Hermione mumbled. She quickly walked over to her bed to look at the package. It was wrapped in plain brown paper and only had her name on it.

She was surprised at what she found when she opened it. Inside was a silver dress with a hood. Really it reminded her more of a priestess's robe than a dress. She looked for a note but didn't find anything. Guessing this was what she was to wear to dinner she began to get dressed.

She checked her watch and saw that she only had five minutes to finish getting ready before she met with Voldemort.

She quickly brushed her hair and put on some lip gloss, not having time to do anything else, before running out of her room to dine with the Dark Lord.

As Hermione approached the open door to the dining room she paused. She had to remember not to think about Lucius' advice. She quickly pushed it to the back of her mind and tried to focus on serving Voldemort and getting revenge on Harry and Ron.

When she walked into the dining room she noticed that the Dark Lord was looking down and talking to someone, or something, but she couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Nor will you Miss. Granger, unless of course you are secretly a Parseltounge. But of course not, there is nothing in your thoughts about you being one." Voldemort said, looking up at her. Hermione had seen him before, but never without his face covered by his hood.

"Does my appearance frighten you Miss. Granger?" Voldemort asked, a sadistic grin on his lips.

Hermione struggled not to shudder, and not to think about her fear.

"Answer me."

"Only if it pleases you, My Lord." Hermione said submissively. When she felt pain on her wrist she guessed that it was the wrong answer. When she looked down she saw Voldemort's hand circling her wrist and tightening. She forced herself not to cry out in pain.

"Do you think that the fear my visage produces pleases me?" he hissed.

"I'm sorry My Lord, I did not know."

"And you still don't. Do you think I enjoy this face?"

"I don't know My Lord." Hermione whispered, wincing when he tightened his grip yet again.

Suddenly he released her wrist and she felt, rather than saw, him get up.

"Congratulations Miss. Granger. You have passed. Welcome to the Dark Side." Voldemort said before leaving.

Surprised, Hermione looked at her arm, seeing something similar to the Mark.

Instead of the normal Mark, in the normal place, she saw a small snake on her wrist.

Confused, she got up and walked back to her room, hoping Lucius would be there to explain.

"Hermione, what brings you here?" Lucius asked when he saw Hermione walk into the library.

"After dinner I went to my room in hope that you would be there. When I asked the house elf where you were, he told me I could find you here. I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Why is my Mark different than yours?"

"What do you mean? All of the Marks are the same, it has always been this way."

"Look."

Lucius carefully touched her wrist to look at her Mark. What he saw concerned him. There had only ever been one Mark like it before, and it had belong to the women that caused Voldemort to be how he was today.

"Lucius?"

"Oh! I couldn't really explain this to you. I have only seen this once before, and it is not my place to tell you about it."

"Who can tell me then?"

"That I cannot really tell you either. You will have to figure that out on your own."

Hermione was confused and frustrated. Here was Lucius, telling her that, while she was finally a Death Eater, she was different. And he wouldn't even tell her why she was different.

"Can't you tell me anything Lucius?"

"I'm sorry, I can't."

Hermione sighed and, finally, sat on the couch next to him.

"Hermione, there are some things we need to discuss and since you are here we should do it now. When new people join the Death Eaters they have to choose someone to guide and train them. Have you anyone in mind?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious? You have helped me get to where I am now. I want you to help guide and train me, as you put it. Unless of course you don't want to?"

"Of course I want to. Now the other concern. You are going to have to reside in my house, or the Dark Lords, until you have finished your training. Would you be able to do that?"

Hermione just sat there, realization slowly showing on her face. She had thought she was only safe from her Stepfather for Winter Break, but now she would be safe from him for who knew how long.

"Hermione?"

""Oh, sorry. Yes I would be more than willing to do that!"

Lucius was surprised at how enthusiastic she was at leaving her family. He had always seen her with her family when she was at Diagon Alley and they always seemed happy together, what had changed?

"Are you sure your Mother and Father wouldn't be worried?"

"My Mother is too concerned with pleasing my Stepfather. She won't be concerned about me at all. I can just make something up and she will believe it."

"And your Stepfather?"

"He will be angry. He won't have anyone there to take advantage of anymore, but that's not my problem anymore." Hermione said, her clenched fists the only thing that revealed how angry she was.

"What do you mean by take advantage of?"

Hermione looked up, startled. She had not realized that she had revealed that much while explaining her situation.

"Nothing, I guess it was a bad choice of words." Hermione said, trying to cover up her mistake.

"You are lying."

"So what? Trust me you don't want to know the truth! I wish that I didn't know the truth!"

"I need to know Hermione. If there is going to be someone trying to interfere with your training I need to know."

"I...I can't say it again. No one believed me last time, why should it be any different this time?"

"I will believe you if you tell me. Or if you can't, show me." He said, rising and walking to a shelf. When he came back to Hermione he was holding a Pensieve.

Hermione sat there staring at Lucius and the Pensieve. She didn't know if she could do it. She hated having to re-live the memory of what happened, how could she allow someone else to see it.

"Hermione, you can trust me."

Deciding to try to trust someone for the first time since Cole entered her life, she put her wand to her temple and withdrew the memory of the worst night with him.

Lucius quickly placed the Pensieve on a table and peered into it, wondering what was haunting Hermione's thoughts.

**A/N: Wow, okay now that my wrists are hurting, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is longer than any of my other chapters, but I felt you all deserved a treat.**

**Please please please review this chapter because I need your input (like I have needed it for the past couple of chapters).**

**  
What do you want to have happen in this story, major or minor?**

**Any lines you want me to add?**

**If I choose your request your penname will appear in the author's note of the chapter it is in.**

**Thanks so much for all of your wonderful reviews! I'm only 14 away from 100!**


	15. The Pensieve

**A/N: Sorry that this took me so long to get out, between Birthdays and Mothers Day and making sure I had everything for college I had almost no time to do anything. I don't know when I can update again after this since I'm going to be starting College here in about... oh god 3 days...**

**This chapter is dedicated to afqh122 who wanted more detail, and hopefully she still reads this chapter even though she read the first draft of it...**

**Well enjoy this chapter**

**Oh and I don't own the lines from the Manga Mars. They just fit perfectly with what was going on...**

**IMPORTANT: This chapter contains rape and child abuse. The rating has changed because of this chapter since I wasn't positive, but had a feeling that it should be changed for safety. If you are not comfortable reading things of this nature please skip down to the author's note at the end for a summary of what happens in this chapter.**

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Chapter 15: The Pensieve

Lucius hit the ground with a thump, barely able to stay on his feet. When he looked up he gasped at what he saw.

Hermione was lying on the floor of the bedroom he was in. He could see tears streaming down her face, and from what Lucius saw, it was much less than anyone else would be doing if they were in her position. Her cheek was swollen, and he could see blood in her mouth. Her wrist was a brilliant red, and it looked like someone had used her wrist to throw her. It looked like she was going to be sick, but before she could move, a man walked in. He looked down at her, and Lucius could imagine almost exactly what he was thinking.

"No, please, no more," she whispered, barely audible.

"Shut the hell up!" the man screamed into Hermione's face, spit flying out of his mouth. Lucius could smell alcohol and guessed it was from the man yelling at her.

He saw Hermione close her eyes as if preparing herself for more pain.

Lucius looked at the memory Hermione, horror and anger barely concealed.

* * *

Hermione was sitting on the couch waiting for Lucius to emerge from her memories. She was nervous about how he would react when he saw her at her weakest.

Malfoys prized power and strength above everything else in their lives. Hermione was sure that once he saw how weak she had been, how she couldn't even protect herself, that he would despise her and find her disgusting.

* * *

Lucius was standing against the wall, wishing that this wasn't a memory so that he could save Hermione.

As he stood there he saw the man walk over to where Hermione was lying, and pick her up by her throat, throwing her onto the bed.

Lucius didn't know if he could watch anymore of this, but he didn't have a choice. He was stuck in the Pensieve until Hermione's memory was complete.

He slowly sunk onto the floor, resting his head in his hands, attempting to block out Hermione's screams, but he failed. He could hear her screaming for mercy as the man beat her, as she struggled against him weakly.

When her screams finally ended he looked up, hoping that the memory was over and he would be released from this hell.

He quickly realized that it was only beginning when he saw the man lick Hermione's cheek. He shuddered in revulsion, wondering just how far this man was going to go.

Suddenly the man stopped what he was doing and moved off of her. Lucius knew that it wasn't over, no matter how much he wished it was.

The man quickly took off his pants and proceeded to grab Hermione's hair. She tried to struggle, even after having been beaten so thoroughly, but she was too weak to do anything more than whimper.

Lucius wanted to look away, but his eyes were glued to the scene unfolding in front of him. He saw as the man slapped Hermione when she tried to move away, saw as she was forced to lie on the bed while the man slid into her. Heard her screams as her virginity was stolen from her, heard her whimper in defeat as she realized that the waves of pain wouldn't stop until the man was satisfied.

No matter how hard Lucius tried to look away he couldn't, he watched as the girl he had become fond of tried to maneuver away from the one that was causing her pain. He watched her face as she realized that the man wasn't going to pull out, the fear that passed over her face before she was crushed under her rapist's weight. He watched as the man got off of her and kissed her, telling Hermione that he loved her and was proud of her. He watched as the man pulled his pants on and left the room. He watched as Hermione struggled to get up and cried into her hands. He watched as Hermione tried to scream that she hated herself, and heard that she was only able to manage a whisper.

The last thing he heard was Hermione praying to die before he was ripped out of the memory.

* * *

Hermione jumped when she heard Lucius fall onto the floor in front of her. She quickly stood up and went over to him to make sure he was okay. When she reached him she realized that he was shaking and she could hear his sobs.

"Lucius?"

"How?"

"What?"

"H-how could you live through t-that?"

"I learned to deal with it."

"You shouldn't have had to! Someone should have stopped it!" Lucius said, controlling his tears and his shaky voice, only to revert to anger.

"Who could have?"

"What about your mother?"

"She knew, but she was too scared to lose another man."

"So she sacrificed you so that she could have a perfect life?"

"She did what she thought was necessary for us to survive."

"She let her own daughter be raped and abused! Was she home that day?"

"She was home every time it happened."

"Why are you acting as though what happened to you is okay! It wasn't! You didn't deserve that Hermione!"

"Lucius, something that I've learned is that people seem weak, but they're strong. They seem strong, but they're weak. No matter how much you cry, you still have to sleep. And you even get hungry. You suddenly realize you're doing the same things you did yesterday. You say hi to your friends and smile just like you did yesterday. Life goes on as if nothing ever happened... Relationships between humans began with people controlling others or being controlled. Even if it doesn't change anything, you can't give up. No matter how many tears you cry, or how much you're made to sweat, you can't draw blood. You are forced to continue on how you did before, and you begin to think of it as a dream, no, more like a nightmare. You learn to push it to the back of your mind, so that you don't have to think about it at times where you should be happy."

Lucius just sat there staring at her. He couldn't believe what she was saying. He slowly got up, leaning on his cane for support, and walked out of the room.

Hermione walked back to the couch she had been sitting on and proceeded to stare into space, thinking of what would happen between her and Lucius now that he knew her past.

* * *

When Lucius left the library, and Hermione, he didn't have a clear route in mind. He just knew he had to get away before he said something he would regret. He didn't think he could deal with what had happened, not with the way Hermione reacted to it. If she had started crying, or even if she had been angry, he would have attempted to help her, calm her down. But he didn't know what to do when her reaction _was _calm.

Realizing that he was in the hall his room was on, he walked into it and went straight for his mantel, grabbing a glass and his brandy.

As he calmed down he thought about what he had witnessed. He had wanted to protect her before he had witnessed what he did, but now he wanted to make sure nothing bad ever happened to her again. He was scared to think of what she would do if something like that ever happened to her again.

He quickly stood up and walked over to his desk and grabbed some parchment and a quill. Sitting down he wrote two letters, one to Hermione and one to the Ministry, before he apparated away.

* * *

Hermione had been staring at one of the bookshelves since Lucius had left her, trying to think of any possible outcome that did not leave her alone again, when she heard something land on the table beside her. Shaking herself she looked over to see a pitch black owl with a letter in its beak.

Reaching down she took the letter, thanked the owl, and opened it. A small smile graced her lips as she saw that it was from Lucius.

Dearest Hermione,

I don't know what to say. I know that I shouldn't have left you like I did, but I'm shocked.

One that something that horrible happened to you,

And two, that you are able to talk about it in such a calm manner.

I want you to know that I love you as if you were my daughter.

I know that this comes as a shock, me being a Malfoy, and I never thought I would feel this way

about someone, well, someone like you.

I believe that the whole point of this letter is to let you know

that I will always protect you, and keep you from harm.

Love,

Lucius

_Of course, _Hermione thought, _he is Lucius, he cannot express his feelings in anything but a letter._

Hermione read the letter many times over before she put it down. This man wasn't the Lucius that she had met in her second year. He had changed. He had told her that he loved her, that she was like a daughter.

Leaning back in her chair, she finally let a true smile grace her features for the first time in a while.

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**FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DECIDED NOT TO READ THIS CHAPTER: Pretty much, Lucius sees the memory of Hermione being beaten and raped by her stepfather. Once he is released from the memory he asks Hermione how she could stand having that happen to her. She tells him that she has learned to cope with it by pushing it to the back of her mind and thinking of other things. He leaves her and writes a letter to her, and the ministry. In the letter to her he tells her that he loves her like a daughter and will always protect her. Lucius has apparated away for some unknown reason.**

**A/N: Thanks everyone who has read my story. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update. I'm not sure when I can update next because the next chapter is proving difficult to write. **

**I'm still looking for any suggestions, and for those of you who have suggested, please feel free to do so again. I have taken many of them into consideration and have incorporated others into later chapters.**


	16. More Thought

**A/N: I'm so so so so so so so so so sorry about how long it has taken me to update. I started college and then I lost touch with this story. Writer's block is still kicking my ass, but I'm going to try to get past it. Hopefully this chapter makes sense. Feel free to send me ideas, as always. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in a review. If I can I will try to answer them in the next few chapters. I'm not sure how many more chapters are left. I know there is probably going to be at least 5-10. Happy reading!**

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Chapter 16: More Thought

Everything was going as planned, at least Ron thought that it was. Hermione had disappeared over break but he wasn't concerned with that. All that he was concerned with was his own plans. No one would know what had hit them when he was finished. When everything was over and done with he would be the one on top, he would be the one who was famous. He would never have to buy clothes from a second hand shop again, and he would never have to follow anyone's orders. He would be in charge, and he was going to enjoy it.

* * *

"Pansy, have you seen Lucius anywhere?"

"Sorry Hermy, I haven't. He left the Manor the other night and no one has seen him since. He might be on a mission, so there is a chance that we won't see him for a while yet."

"Okay, well I'll see you later. And don't call me Hermy." Hermione said as she walked away, the smile that had been on her face slowly disappearing. She was beginning to doubt not only herself, but also everything that she had done so far. She didn't know what to think anymore. Lucius had told her that she was like a daughter, she was best friends with Pansy, and her old best friends wanted to kill her. She was proud of being a Death Eater now, but she had to hide it from everyone.

But none of these were important compared to the foremost thought in her mind. She was still confused when it came to her mark. Lucius had looked surprised when he had seen how her mark was different than everyone else's, but he refused to say anything to her about it. Normally she loved a challenge, but this time she wished that someone would just come right out and tell her what was going on. She had no idea where she could begin to find the answer to her questions. She doubted that she could find anything in any of the books in the library, and even if she could find a book that would tell her the answers it would most likely be in the Restricted Section. Not even Hermione could think of a way to explain why she would need to find a book about different Marks.

* * *

Lucius was exhausted. He had done what he had set out to do, but it took more effort than he had thought that it would. He hadn't realized what he was going to have to go through to get the images out of his head, but he was close. All he was waiting for now was a response from the Ministry. Hopefully everything would be resolved soon.

He quickly apparated to Platform 9 ¾, hoping to see Hermione before she went off to Hogwarts. When he opened his eyes (even Lucius was scared of something) he saw that he was just barely too late. The train had started to move and Hermione was no where in sight. Sighing, he closed his eyes again and apparated back to the Manor.

* * *

"Severus, do you know anything more on the student?"

"Very little. I know that it is a female and that she was accepted into the ranks. Other than that there has been no news. I don't know if I am going to even find out what her name is. Voldemort doesn't want many of us to know who she is, he suspects a traitor."

"Very well. I only hope that he trusts you enough to tell you who she is. Everything could depend on it."

* * *

**MUGGLE FOUND DEAD IN HOUSE**

**SUSPECTED DEATH EATER INVOLVEMENT**

**Cole Small, father of Hermione J. Granger, was found**

**dead today in his house. There are no clues yet, but the **

**cause of death is suspected to be murder at this time. **

**As there are no signs of violence it is believed that Mr. **

**Small was killed by an Unforgivable. The staff of the **

**Prophet extend their sympathy to the Granger-Small **

**family and hope that the murderer is found.**

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and hopefully you all don't hate me. For any of you who has read my other chaptered story (Love in Creative Writing) can you let me know if I should continue it at all...**


	17. Morning, Noon, Night

**Read Author's Note At Bottom!!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, never was mine, will never be mine.**

Chapter 17 : Morning, Noon, Night

Hermione was exhausted. Between classes and training she was barely able to get out of bed in the mornings anymore. Along with being exhausted she was also tired, not physically tired but mentally. Ever since Cole had been murdered she was constantly bothered by well meaning teachers and students asking her how she was, if she was coping okay, and if she needed to talk. Instead of being able to enjoy the death of the one man who had ruined her life she was forced to fake sadness at his death and produce tears to cry on someones shoulder.

Worst of all of it was that Harry and Ron were now trying to be nice to her again. They were constantly trying to catch up with her after class and always asking her if she wanted to hang out with them or go together on a Hogsmeade weekend. She wanted to refuse but couldn't. She knew that if she acted any different than she normally did that they would start to suspect something, and she couldn't let that happen.

Day after day she was forced to deal with everything, and she was beginning to feel the weight of the stress on her shoulders. The only thing that she was looking forward to anymore was the look on Lucius' face after a training session. She had always loved praise for her work, but when it came from him she felt as if she was finally doing exactly right. She had been trying her hardest for the past month and she finally felt as if it was paying off. He had told her that the Dark Lord had "requested" a meeting with her scheduled for the next Hogsmeade weekend. When she asked why he just smiled and told her that she would find out a little later.

That was a week ago. Tonight she hoped she would find out, which was why she was almost running to the Room of Requirement. From the first day of her training she had wondered how Lucius was able to enter Hogwarts without anyone knowing but she soon learned not to question him about it. She still remembered the bruises she had earned from asking instead of fighting.

Excited, she quickly walked through the door, coming to a quick stop when she walked into complete darkness. Without hesitating she pulled out her wand and went into a crouch, ready for anything.

"Conjunctivitis!"

Hermione smiled to herself when she heard the curse. Whoever it was that had sent it was no where near as experienced as Lucius and hadn't heard her duck down. She now had the upper hand and quickly rolled to the side knowing that there was a desk she could duck behind thanks to the few seconds she had had to identify the room.

"Serpensortia!" she heard another voice yell. This time she recognized it as Lucius.

Without pausing she stood up and pointed her wand in the direction she thought Lucius' voice had come from and tried to disarm him before quickly ducking back down and looking for somewhere else to hide. If she had missed she was in trouble, and even if she hadn't there was at least one other attacker in the room.

"You are trapped Hermione. You know of at least two attackers and you have backed yourself into a corner. Along with that you foolishly revealed your place of hiding and have no other place you can make it to without cover. You have lost." So she had missed him.

Smiling Hermione realized that there was a spell she could use to buy herself a little time to think of what to do next.

"Cave Inimicum!" She yelled. Now she had a few moments that she could use to figure out a way to get out of this.

"Confringo!" Hermione quickly ran from where she was hiding when she heard her second attacker send the spell her way. Yes she had strengthened her hiding place, but even she didn't know if it would stand up to being blown up.

Not knowing what she could possibly do next she crouched down and cast Protego to create a shield around her. Knowing that she couldn't possibly win against two experienced Death Eaters, especially when they knew where she was now, she quickly decided on a course of action.

Standing up she quickly cast Muffliato all around the room and then ran to the door, putting it to her back. She smiled to herself as she heard a surprised squeak come from her left. Pointing her wand to where she heard the squeak come from she cast Sectumsempra, secretly hoping she didn't injure the person too much, and then crouched down. She heard a scream from the man to her left and she smirked. So she had hit them.

Next thing Hermione knew she was lying on the floor feeling as though her bones were on fire and her head about to split open. Even knowing that she had lost she refused to give up. Fighting off the pain as much as she could she opened her eyes to see Lucius walking over to the man she could now identify as Yaxley. Raising her wand as much as she was able she cast Sectumsempra again, and by luck, managed to hit Lucius' leg. As he fell to the ground the Crucio was lifted and she was able to sit up, although slowly.

"Lucius, Lucius, Lucius. You made a rookie mistake."

Looking over to where the voice came from she gasped. Voldemort himself was sitting in a chair behind the very desk she had used to hide behind.

"Very good Miss. Granger. Not only were you able to injure Yaxley, but also Lucius. Along with that you were able to protect this desk from being blown to pieces and resisted the Cruciatus curse. I would have to say that you are progressing very well in your training."

"Thank you My Lord." Hermione said, bowing her head.

"Come." Voldemort said as he walked to the fireplace. "We leave this place. We have something very important to discuss and it cannot wait. Lucius, Yaxley, Come now!"

"My Lord, I don't understand."

"That is not surprising Yaxley. I did not think that my explanation was very difficult to understand. Miss Granger has progressed through her training at a rate that is unheard of. I believe she is ready for her first mission, and I feel that she is ready for this one."

"But My Lord, she is a newly trained Death Eater. She shouldn't be allowed on so dangerous a mission this early." Lucius interrupted.

"Do you doubt your training abilities Lucius? I feel that she is more than ready for this. Do you two doubt me?"

"No My Lord." Two voices said simultaneously.

**A/N: I know I kept you guys waiting for this for way to long, but I finally got it finished. I was going to keep going with it, but I already have an idea for what exactly I want the next chapter to be.**

**SO IT'S YOUR TURN:**

**  
What should Hermione's mission be? Post it in a review. I'm already finished with chapter 18 so once I get some ideas I will post up that chapter and then there will be a vote.**

**Also keep those other ideas coming. I can't figure out how to incorporate some of them in yet, but I'm going to do my best to get every idea I get into my story somehow. **


	18. DiscoveredAn Unexpected Arrangement

**A/N: Reading the note at the end! It's actually really important!! Oh and I wasn't going to post this yet but well, I couldn't wait!  
**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, never was mine, never will be mine.**

Chapter 18: Discovered/An Unexpected Arrangement

_Another morning, another breakfast alone. _ Hermione thought as she walked into the Great Hall. Ever since she had heard Harry and Ron talking about killing her, she had avoided them as much as possible. She would come early to breakfast and leave before they had even woke up. She would hide out in the Library when she wasn't in class or training. She would arrive at the last second to class so that there wouldn't be any spots open near them. She didn't know how much longer she would have to avoid them, but she figured she would have to until she revealed her true alliances.

"Hermione!" She turned her head towards the voice, surprised to see Pansy waving to her from the Slytherin table. Hermione tried to get her to shut up since there were a few Gryffindors and some of the teachers in the Great Hall. She motioned to Pansy to meet her outside, and then stood up and left.

"Sorry Hermione!" Pansy said once she had finally gotten outside.

"Don't worry about it Pans, just be more careful. We have to make sure that no one suspects anything about me, and you know that it's only one short leap from friend of a Slytherin to Death Eater."

"True, but anyways. It's been forever! Where have you been hiding?"

"Trying to avoid Harry and Ron. I guess I am doing better than I had thought if no one has been able to find me."

"So let me see it!" Pansy said, ignoring what Hermione had just said and reaching for her arm.

"Pansy! What did we just agree on? We have to be careful!"

"There is no one here Mione! Just let me see it." Pansy tried to give her puppy dog eyes, but failed miserably, quickly deciding just to reach out for Hermione's arm again. This time she was successful and managed to grab hold of her sleeve before they were interrupted.

"Pansy, what are you doing touching the Mudblood?"

"Shut up Malfoy, I'm tired of hearing your same old lines over and over again." Hermione said, quickly jerking her arm away from Pansy's grip and making sure her sleeve was pulled down over the Mark.

"I'm tired of seeing your face everyday too, but there's nothing I can do about that. Now I was talking to Pansy."

"Nothing Drake..." Pansy said, looking down so that Draco couldn't tell by her face that she was lying.

"Your lying. Now what were you trying to see on her... arm..." Draco's face suddenly lit up in shock. "You've got to be joking." He said, grabbing Hermione's arm too quick for her to react.

"Let go of me Ferret!" Hermione yelled, trying to jerk her arm out of Draco's grasp, but failing despite her new strength.

"You didn't, you couldn't have. He would have killed you as soon as he saw you." Draco said, mumbling to himself in disbelief as he pulled her sleeve up, revealing the snake.

"Oh, Hermione it's so cute!" Pansy exclaimed when she saw it. "But why is it different than all of the other Marks?"

"Yes Mudblood, why is it different?"

"I-I don't know okay you guys." She said, finally pulling her arm out of Draco's grip and pulling her sleeve down to cover her Mark. "I don't know why it is different, or what the meaning of it is. I just don't know." She yelled before tears started to stream down her face in her frustration.

"Hermione, don't cry!" Pansy said, stepping closer to Hermione to try to comfort her. Hermione was having none of it though and just ran away.

"Pansy, why are you associating with the Mudblood?" Draco said, finally coming out of his daze when he saw Hermione run off.

"Draco, listen. If she's good enough to join the Death Eaters don't you think she is good enough to be my friend?"

"No Pans, I don't. She is still the dirty little Mudblood that we have tortured for the past how many years!"

"Are you saying that you don't believe that the Dark Lord made the right decision in allowing her to join?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying! I don't think he has been making the right decisions since he miraculously came back from the dead!"

"Draco! You could be killed just for thinking that, let alone saying it! I don't see why you are being so stubborn about everything! You could easily join Him and become his heir! Why would you want to give that up?"

"Because everything I have been saying about Him is true! And him letting Granger join just proves my point even more! I will never join with someone who allows a Mudblood into his ranks, especially when it is that Mudblood that he was always trying to destroy!"

"Drake, let's just drop it. I don't want to fight with you again."

"I'm sorry Pansy, it's a little too late for that." Draco said, storming off and leaving Pansy in tears.

Hermione had been hiding in the Library since the incident with Malfoy. She was scared and upset. No one was supposed to know about her Mark, and now Malfoy had found out, her enemy even now. She was scared that he was going to reveal it to everyone. She was scared that everyone would find out about her being a Death Eater. She was scared what would happen to her if he did that. But at the same time she wondered if it would be better. The more she thought about it the more she realized that not much would change if everyone found out. She didn't really talk to anyone anymore, well except for Pansy. She was an outcast, so what if they hated her for it.

She was brought out of her debate by her stomach growling. Normally she ate in her common room, but she figured that she was closer to the Great Hall so she might as well just eat in there with everyone else.

Walking into the Great Hall she noticed that it was no different than when she was still close with Harry and Ron. No one stopped what they were doing to stare at her, and all the conversations stayed the same. She quickly walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat at the end, far from where she saw Ron sitting.

About half way through dinner she heard the sound of wings. Guessing that it was the owl post she stopped eating and looked up. She was always amazed by the sight of hundreds of owls swooping into the Hall and dropping the mail onto someone's plate, effectively ruining the rest of their dinner. Not expecting any mail she resumed eating, only to have an official looking letter knock into her glass, spilling the drink everyone.

Grabbing her wand she quickly cleaned everything up and then looked at the letter that had caused the mess. It fairly plain compared to some letters she had seen dropped off during dinner, but something about it made her apprehensive.

Just as she was reaching for the letter it popped up. Fearing that it was a howler she tried to grab it, but stopped when she heard what it said.

"From the Ministry of Magic, Adoption Services. Miss Hermione Granger, This letter is to inform you that Mr. Lucius Malfoy has officially requested to legally adopt you as his daughter. His request was carefully investigated and nothing was found suspicious. Because you are not an orphan we decided to veto his request pending contact with your mother. Once contacted she gave her permission for you to be adopted by Lucius Malfoy and signed over all responsibilities pertaining to you. As of this moment you are officially to be known as Hermione Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune based on date of birth. We have sent a letter to Mr. Lucius Malfoy as well as Mr. Draco Malfoy informing them of our decision. Along with being named as the Malfoy heir, we would like to inform you that during our investigation of your previous home life we discovered that you were in fact adopted by the Granger family. We were unable to find the names of your biological parents, but we were able to find out that they both had magical abilities. We do regret to inform you that their bloodlines are unknown. If you have any questions or concerns please contact the Head of Adoption Services.

Good Luck and Best Wishes,

Denise Watkins

Secretary of Adoptions Services"

Hermione was shocked, and from the silence coming from the students and teachers they were too. Hermione looked up from the letter to see everyone staring at her with mixed expressions. All those coming from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were those of disgust, while the Ravenclaws and Slytherins were a mix of respect and disgust. Draco's expression scared her the most. The look he gave her was one of impending death.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to jessirose85 who requested an adoption scene. **

**Next chapter: Lucius's explanation of why he adopted her, Draco's reaction, more about Harry and Ron's plan, and Hermione's Mission!**

**Which brings me to the vote:**

**  
Please vote for one of the choices by going to my profile and doing the poll. To make it to where people actually will:**

**I will not update again until I have at least 10 unique voters (and at least 5 reviews) I know I'm being mean... oh well...**


	19. AN: Sorry!

I'm sorry about the delay on this story. I had the next two chapters typed up on my laptop ready to be published. But well my laptop crashed and I lost everything. I still don't have it back, so until it is fixed I won't be able to update. But hopefully I will have quite a few chapters ready to be typed up by then. I apologize for this...

Thanks for all the reviews though, they are the only things keeping me sane while I am not able to write...

Eyes That Are Windows To The Soul


	20. Reactions and Revelations

**A/N: I know it's been forever. But before you start shouting and cursing me take a few seconds while I try to explain. At first I had just lost all of my ideas on this story. I was 18 chapters into it and realized that there was no romance so I gave up. Then I finally got my ideas back… and my laptop crashed. I finally got it back and have a plan for the story once again. For all you expecting romance know that it will happen. But I want to make sure that it seems plausible, Voldy wouldn't fall in love with a Mudblood overnight would he. So read on and pay attention to the author's note at the end**

"You stupid Mudblood bitch! What did you do to my father to make him do this?" Draco screamed into Hermione's face.

"Your father…Our father must have his reasons. I didn't even know about it until just now so don't blame me."

"Who else am I supposed to blame you stupid-"

"That is enough Mister Malfoy." Draco's words stuck in his throat as he heard Dumbledore's voice behind him. "I'm sure Miss Granger is as surprised about this as you are. But the reason I came over here. You and Miss Granger are going to be going to Malfoy Manor for a few days to get used to the idea. Go to your rooms now and pack. And Mister Malfoy, I don't expect to hear those words out of your mouth on school grounds ever again."

"You got lucky this time Granger." Draco said as he turned to get ready to go home.

"Thank you Professor." Hermione said.

"Don't thank me yet Miss Granger, now go get packed, you will be leaving in an hour."

"Yes sir."

Dumbledore watched as she walked away from him. He felt as though she wasn't just walking away from her old life as a Granger. He had suspected that she was the traitor for a while now even though he didn't want to believe it. He couldn't doubt that all the clues pointed to her now, especially with this recent event. A known Death Eater had publicly adopted her. He slowly shook his head as a tear ran down his wrinkled face.

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Malfoy Manor. Her new home where her new life would really begin. Hermione sat on the bed, a bed that cost more than all of her furniture at her old house, and couldn't help but smile. While it would be harder to hide that she was no longer on Dumbledore's side she couldn't help but think that she was going to be so much happier now that she was living with someone who actually cared about her well being. Her mother never did. All her mother had ever cared about was Cole. Now that she was living with Lucius she couldn't help but think that maybe her life was beginning to look better. Now all she had to deal with was Draco.

Almost as if her thoughts had called him to her Draco stormed into her room, his eyes blazing with fury.

"We are going to settle this once and for all Granger. You are going to go to my father and force him to change his mind about this." Draco yelled, forcing Hermione into a corner.

"And what happens if I don't?"

"That doesn't matter because you will. Once you have explained to him why he made a mistake he will fix everything."

"I'm not going to do it, so just leave."

"You stupid, idiotic, insolent Mudblood!" Draco screamed, his hands balling into fists.

"Wow I didn't even know you knew that many words! Congratulations!" Hermione teased with a smile on her face that quickly faded when she realized Draco's intentions.

"Payback's a bitch." Draco said before smirking and bringing his fist back, slamming it into Hermione's jaw. He continued to smirk as she fell to the floor, her eyes tearing up.

"Draco! What is the meaning of this?" Lucius roared as he stormed into the room.

"She attacked me father, I just defended myself."

"You stupid boy, don't you have a better excuse than that? Even if I hadn't been standing here watching the whole thing I wouldn't believe that." Lucius yelled, grabbing Draco by the arm and pulling him to the door. "You are not going to be let off easy this time. Hermione I am going to send up a House Elf to take care of you. We will talk at dinner." He said before pulling a protesting Draco out the door.

Hermione stood up, quickly wishing she had just stayed on the floor as her vision swam. She carefully moved over to her bed and sat on it. After a few seconds the elf that Lucius had promised showed up, gave her a potion to drink, and left. Hermione knew that Lucius was going to punish Draco, and that it probably wasn't going to be pretty. Shaking her head in disbelief at what she had decided, she walked out of her room and looked for Draco's.

---------------------------------------------

Hermione didn't know how long she waited in Draco's room for him. She knew it had to have been hours though because when she opened her eyes she saw that the light in the room had faded and that Draco was staring at her with hate from the chair by his bed, wincing every time he moved.

"What are you doing in my room Granger?" Draco asked trying his hardest not to show her how much pain he was in.

"I wanted to apologize." Hermione knew in her heart that an apology wasn't enough though. She had taken everything from him and hadn't even done it on purpose.

"I don't accept. Get out of my bed, now." He was dumbfounded as she quickly jumped to do as he said. Slowly he tried to pull himself out of the chair, sighing in defeat as he fell back into it.

"Let me help you." Hermione said quickly moving over to him and grabbing his arm. Together they were able to move him into his bed, but he refused to lie on his back.

"You can leave now. I don't need anymore contamination in my room." Draco said, but it didn't sound as harsh as it usually did.

"Let me see your back first and then I will leave."

"Why should I?"

"Because whatever Lucius did to you he did because of me. Because I don't want that on my conscience. And because for some reason I care about what happened."

Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. Granger was worried about _him._ Knowing that it was going to be something he regretted later on he moved onto his stomach allowing Hermione to pull his shirt up to see the damage that had been done.

Hermione's breath caught in her throat and her eyes started tearing up. Forgetting that she was a witch and could easily heal his bloody back with magic she got up and went into the bathroom, coming out with a bowl of water and a few washcloths. She carefully sat back down onto the bed trying not to cause Draco anymore pain than he was already in.

"This is probably going to hurt and for that I'm sorry. But I need to see how much damage was done to your back." She said as she started to slowly clean up the blood. Every time Draco hissed in pain another tear escaped her eyes and slowly made its way down her face. By the time she was done cleaning him up she could barely breathe through the sobs that were wracking her body. Trying to hide the fact that she was crying she gathered the cloths and the bowl up and quickly walked into the bathroom.

When she came out of the bathroom she had her tears under control but even if he hadn't of heard her sobbing and felt her hands trembling as she tended to him Draco would have known she had been crying.

"Why?"

"Why what Granger. Why did he adopt you? Why did he replace me as heir? Or, why did he whip me within an inch of my life, leaving me bleeding on the ground?"

"Everything…"

"Well I can only answer the last one since I don't know the answer to the other two. He did it because I threatened his precious new daughter. He did it because I harmed his precious protégé. He did it because of you." Draco instantly regretted his last words as he saw her face crumple into despair again.

"I'm so sorry Draco! All I have done since I met your father is caused you hell. I wish I could go back and find a way to have never met him or you. Then everything would be okay for you."

"Shut up Granger. Yes this was because of you, this time. Did you happen to see the other scars on my back? Or did you ignore them because you wanted to think that you were the cause of this. He has done this to me before for other reasons, some stupid some that he felt were justified. Why that look on your face? What you thought that he was some sort of angel come to save you from life? He is the devil's right hand man; you had to have known what he was capable of!"

"I knew he was capable of horrible things! I'm not naïve!"

"Oh but you are Hermione! You joined the Death Eaters, you were proud to be adopted by my father. You thought everything was going to get better? It won't. It may seem to get better but it will always end the same, in disappointment. That is something you will learn quickly in this house."

"I don't believe you. If that makes me naïve then so be it, but your father has been nothing but kind to me. He has done everything he can to make my life simpler. He even killed Cole because he wanted to protect me!"

"You think _he_ was the one that killed Cole? You really are stupid. My father was at a ball when the murder happened. Sorry to burst your bubble but he doesn't care enough to do something like that."

"I'm done. I'm sorry that I made your life hell, even before this. I'm just going to finish up here and then you won't have to see me again unless your father orders it." Hermione said grabbing her wand and healing his wounds as best as she could. Every welt would end up as another scar on his back.

Draco was speechless. Even after everything he had just said to her, she still wanted to help him, to heal him. What she didn't realize was that she had healed him a little on the inside, showed him that, even though he was an ass, there were still people willing to help him. Even if he didn't deserve it.

"Goodbye Draco."

"Hermione wait. Why did you just help me?"

"Because even though you just said all those nasty things about me, you still didn't deserve this." She said, getting up and leaving the room.

"I'm sorry…" Draco said to her, even though she couldn't hear him.

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"You wanted to see me Lucius." Hermione said, quickly moving to sit in the chair opposite of him.

"Father. As of now you are to call me father. I know you are confused as to why I did what I did, so I decided I would explain some of it to you. I want to see you succeed. I know that you have the possibility to become one of the greatest Death Eaters in history. You are smart and talented, something that Draco will never be. I want to help you in any way that I can, and I feel that I can help you best if you are a member of my family. I want to protect you, as I have told you before. I will always protect you. You may not realize it but it is not only the Order that is your enemy. You have many among the Death Eaters. They fear you because you are what they were taught to hate. They fear you because you are progressing faster than they did. Their fear makes them want you dead. If you carry the Malfoy name you will have more protection."

"I didn't realize this. I understand now why you had to make sure that it was done publicly. But how am I going to be able to hide from the Order now? They must all suspect me now that they know that you, the right hand man of Voldemort, have adopted me."

"They have suspected you long before now or at least certain members have. As I said before you now have a certain level of protection. You carry the Malfoy name which is protection unto itself, but you will also be in the media spotlight because of this. If something were to happen to you they would suspect those that hate the Malfoy name, mainly Dumbledore and Potter."

"I see. Thank you."

"Do not thank me yet. While I want to protect you I will not always be around to. Especially tonight. Tonight is your first mission, and while I believe you will succeed it is not what I would have given you myself. The Dark Lord has had his eye on a certain werewolf, Remus Lupin, for a while now. He believes that Lupin would be an asset to us in more ways than one. He is leaving this to you and you alone. You are to meet Lupin at the shrieking shack in less than an hour and convince him to change sides. You must understand why this is dangerous. If you do not succeed you will have to kill him, and he is not going to be easily killed."

"How am I supposed to convince him though? He cares deeply for Harry and I don't think there is any way that he can be swayed."

"I am sure you will think of something, now go and prepare yourself."

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**A/N: I hope that everyone is happy with Draco and Hermione's conversation in this chapter, since I had a lot of reviews saying that they didn't want Draco to hate Hermione.**

**Also**

**I know I said in the last chapter that her mission would be in this chapter, but I blanked as soon as I got to it. I promise it will be in the next chapter, which will hopefully be up soon (unless my comp crashes again…)**

**Please review and let me know if this chapter is any good ^.^**


	21. Mission, Praise, Beginnings

**Mission, Praise, Beginnings**

Hermione's mind was anywhere but on the mission. She was already in the meeting place but she wasn't very concerned with what she was supposed to be doing. She could only think about what Draco had told her. Lucius wasn't the one that had killed Cole. She couldn't think of anyone else who would have cared enough to do something like that.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone climbing the stairs. Quickly checking to make sure everything was in place she sat in the armchair by the door and waited.

"Hermione? Are you in here?" Remus said as he walked in the door. He didn't see anyone, but he knew that just because he didn't see anyone didn't mean there was no one there.

"Hello Remus." Hermione said, waving her wand to shut and lock the door. "Thank you for coming. We have much to discuss."

"Hermione what is this about? I don't have much time."

"Did you tell anyone you were meeting me here?"

"Of course not. You asked me not to and I have no reason not to trust you, do I?"

"No reason at all. But I must ask you to do one thing, you must listen to everything I say and you must not act until the end. I don't want to have to do anything irrational."

"Is something wrong Hermione? Are you in danger?" Remus asked his eyes wide with concern.

"No Remus, _I_ am not in danger." She couldn't resist smirking a little. As of right now he wasn't in danger either, but she knew how quickly that could change when he heard what she had to offer. "Remus you have to trust me and listen to everything I have to say. I don't want to but if you refuse to listen or change your mind while I am speaking I will have to do magic you to listen, and I would rather you just hear me out without drastic measures."

"Hermione I don't know what is so important but I will listen to what you have to say, even if I don't like what you have to say."

"Thank you. Now please take a seat, this could take a while." Hermione waited for him to sit before she began, making sure her wand was within reach in case things went sour. "Now don't forget you said you would listen. I am here to offer you power beyond your wildest dreams. Never again would you have to worry about being discriminated against because of your condition. You could live a normal life. You could get married, have children, and live in luxury. Of course this won't be possible without you having to do something too."

"I'm going to have to interrupt you Hermione. I know I promised not to, but how could you make all of this possible?"

"I was getting to that. I speak for someone greater than myself right now. He could make all of your dreams come true, and all you would have to do in return is be loyal to Him."

"Who is he?" Remus asked eyes wary. He remembered the saying that he lived his life by, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

"Lord Voldemort. He is willing to offer you anything that you might wish for a few services. You will not have to receive the mark, or at least not the normal one as it would be too conspicuous for what he wishes you to do. All you would have to do to have everything within your grasp is inform him of the Order's movements against him."

"You mean betray everyone that I love? Spy on everyone who has stood by me through everything?" Remus said, jumping out of his seat in rage. He never thought that Hermione of all people would be the one that they had been looking for this whole time.

"What about me Remus? Am I no longer included in the ranks of everyone you love? Have I not stood by you through everything you have been through? Did I not keep your secret when I could have revealed it to everyone and caused you undue harm? Have I not been your most loyal friend?"

"I thought you were at one point. But how can I believe that any longer when you are willing to betray Harry, your best friend?"

"Forget Harry! He no longer acts like he is my best friend. You cannot pretend like you do not know what they have planned for me. Everyone in the Order has to be a part of it. Neither Harry nor Ron have the brains to come up with the plan."

"What are you talking about Hermione? What plan?"

"You don't have to play dumb Remus. I know you know about it, you are a higher ranking member of the Order."

"Hermione I really have no idea what you are talking about. What plan?"

Hermione looked at Remus harder, still not believing that he had no idea what she was speaking about. The harder she looked at him the more she believed him to be telling the truth. She couldn't help but think that he really was as innocent as he was acting. Finally she looked into his eyes and saw the truth. He never was able to hide his emotions from Hermione, all she had to do was look into his eyes and she could see everything.

"You really are telling the truth aren't you? You really have no idea what I'm talking about? You were really left out of it? They had to have known that if I found out that I would eventually go to you. They must know that it is impossible for you to lie to me. They would have known that if they told you I would find out." Hermione paused in her rant, realizing that she could use this revelation to her benefit. "You see Remus, they don't trust you anymore than they trust a child. I can almost guarantee that everyone else in the Order knows that Harry and Ron are planning on killing me. That they are planning on killing me and transferring all of my power to Harry."

Remus was having a hard time taking it all in. He knew that something was going on between the Golden Trio. They hadn't been as close this year as they normally were but he thought that maybe they had grown apart for other reasons. He didn't want to believe that it was because Hermione's life was in danger. The more he thought about what Hermione was telling him the more he realized that she had to be telling the truth. Since the beginning there had been meetings that he hadn't been informed of until it was too late. Conversations had abruptly ended when he entered a room. Until now he hadn't really thought too much of it as he believed that the Order had his and Hermione's best interests in mind. But now he realized that the whole time they had been planning to kill the person that had helped them figure out most of Voldemort's plans. They had been hiding it from Remus because they didn't trust him.

A small smile formed on Hermione's face as she watched him think. She could tell that he was ready to give in. She hadn't thought it would be this easy to convince one of the remaining Marauders to switch sides.

"So what is it going to be Remus?"

"I don't know what to do Hermione. What you say is true, but they have still been there for me. They have helped me in so many ways."

"Did Dumbledore help you when he allowed your secret to get out? He could have stopped the press from printing it. He is the great Dumbledore after all. Since then have you been able to find a job? Find an apartment? He betrayed you early on. He betrayed you and ruined your life so that he could use you for his own purposes. Since your secret was released all you have been able to do is work in secret for the Order, going where he tells you to when he tells you to."

"How would it be any different working for Voldemort?"

"It would be completely different. Maybe not at first since what you would be doing would be done in secret. But you would be working towards something. You would have a future when everything was said and done. He would provide you with a job, with a life."

"I won't lie, it is tempting. How do I know it isn't all a lie though?"

"You have to trust me. I know it is going to be hard to do, but you have to."

"And if I do trust you, what would I have to do?"

Hermione smiled. She had won.

"All you would have to do is accept this letter and follow its instructions. If at any point you betray me and show someone the letter or mention that I was the one that gave it to you, you will be killed." She said handing him the letter before he could object. What he didn't know about the letter was that it was a blank sheet of paper. The real letter would only be revealed once he had come to terms and decided for sure that he wanted to join.

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Nothing. Thank you for coming Remus. I hope that you join me." Hermione stood up and gave him a hug.

As Hermione walked away Remus still had doubts, but they were quickly gone when she turned around and smiled at him. It was the same smile she had the first time he saw her, the same smile that had made him want to protect her.

..........

An hour after she had left Remus she still had a smile on her face. She was waiting outside of Voldemort's meeting room for him to call her in. She knew that she should be a little worried about meeting with him, as he was the Dark Lord known for his violent mood swings, but she couldn't. She had completed her first mission and even though it was very difficult it could be counted a success.

"You may enter now Miss Granger." She heard a voice call from within. Her breath stopped for a second in fear before she remembered that she had good news. She held her head high as she walked into the room.

When she reached the throne she quickly put her head down and knelt before him.

"You may stand Miss Granger. What news do you have for me?"

"My Lord, I have the greatest news that I could possibly give. I believe that I have successfully turned Remus Lupin over to our side. I met with him as instructed and spoke to him about joining us. He was hesitant at first but when faced with the truth he quickly agreed. I gave him the spelled letter with the instructions not to show it to anyone or to reveal who gave it to him if asked. I believe that soon we will receive notice that the enchantment on the letter was released and that he will be heading to the new meeting place. If I may ask, who is going to be meeting him there?"

"Miss Granger, who do you think is going to meet him there and bring him to us? I feel that even though you led a misguided life before you made the decision to join us, and even though you were brought up in the muggle world, that you are the only one that can be trusted in this matter. Once I have received word that he is there I will summon you back and give you the location. That will be the most difficult part of this mission. When he meets you there it could be a trap, so be prepared. You will be allowed to bring one person with you, so think over your choices and choose wisely. You are dismissed."

"Thank you." Hermione said her previous smile even brighter than before, thanks to the rare compliment she had just received. She quickly left so as not anger him.

Voldemort couldn't help but continue to think about Hermione even after she had left. She was a promising student of the Dark Arts, second only to him when he was younger. He felt that she could very well be a ranking member in time. The only thing he could hold against her was her parentage, which he had recently discovered the truth about. He had had his suspicions about her parents from the beginning, knowing that even with study you had to have natural talent and magic in your blood to be able to accomplish the things she had.

He couldn't help but hope that once she found out the truth of her parents that she wouldn't desert him. He knew that he needed her to be on his side. He just didn't realize at the moment how many different ways he needed her.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. I won't lie this story is becoming harder and harder to write. I know exactly how I want it to end I just don't know how to get it there since there are still so many things that have to happen, and so many things left to explain. I want everyone to know that you guys are the reason I haven't given up on this story. So many times I wanted to just quit during this chapter but then I would receive a review and it made me want to continue.**

I'm pretty sure I know who I want her parents to be, but if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know in a review.


	22. Talks, Glomps, and Planning

Talks, Glomps, and Planning

**A/N: I hate it I hate it I hate it… I'm not happy with this chapter at all, but go ahead and read it then read the note at the bottom…**

It was Hermione and Draco's last night before they were due back at Hogwarts and both could be found in the library talking. Since Hermione had helped Draco the night before they had come to a sort of truce. It couldn't be called friendship since Draco still hated Hermione for her choices and for effectively ruining what he had always thought of as his life, but he respected her for her bravery and for tending to his wounds.

"Draco, I don't understand. Since I've known you all you have talked about is how 'mudbloods' should be taken out of Hogwarts at the least, or even killed. You have spouted out what Voldemort's beliefs are, yet now you don't know if you want to join him? It doesn't make sense to me."

"And what about you? You have always helped Potter and the Order, and now look at you. You switched sides and show no remorse for it."

"Yes but I have my reasons why I did this."

"As I have mine. I just can't help but think that what I have been taught my whole life has been wrong. Maybe what I have been taught to fight for is exactly what I should be fighting against. I can't help but wonder which side is the right side, which side is the side that is going to win."

"So what does this mean for you?"

"I'm not sure. I feel like I have no choice but to join my father if only to save my mother. It may not be what I want but I don't know what to do."

"Whatever you decide is going to have consequences, but I'm sure you know that. Where is your mother anyway?"

"Father sent her away because he knew of my wavering loyalties I believe. She is visiting friends somewhere. He won't even tell me where she went exactly."

"So even he knows that you might one day be fighting against him. Maybe this shows that while he might hate you for what you will one day end up choosing, he respects that."

"I doubt it. He was tiring of hearing Mother talk about how I must be allowed to make my own decisions. I believe he sent her away to keep her from influencing me against him. She never had the same beliefs that he did, but was forced to show everyone that she did. She hated it and never forgave Father for raising me to believe what she called lies. See Hermione, not everything is as black and white as you believe, or at least believed, it to be. There are many shades of gray in between. My Father may show a side to you that is 'good' but all I have known is the man who would do anything to have his way. You saw that last night."

Hermione didn't know what to say to this, but she didn't have to worry about thinking about it much longer. When she opened her mouth to respond she gasped in pain.

"I have to go. Maybe we can talk more later?" Hermione said quickly standing up and walking to the door.

"Maybe." Draco said shortly, turning away from her and grabbing the book he had been reading. Hermione wanted to stop and say something to him but she knew she had to hurry so she wouldn't keep anyone waiting.

She was still thinking of what she could have said when she walked into the hallway. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Lucius standing in front of her until arms caught her as she fell.

"Hello Hermione."

"Oh! Hi Lucius…."

"I know you have to hurry, but I wanted to let you know that you need to be ready to leave after you meet with him. Are there any preparations that you haven't taken care of yet?"

"Yes actually. Can you find someone for me?"

........VH.

"Miss Granger, you are late." Voldemort said, barely taking notice of the fact that Hermione was shaking.

"I'm sorry sir. I had to make some last minute arrangements." Hermione said, straining to keep her voice from breaking.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Don't disappoint me again."

"Yes sir."

"I trust that you are ready for the last part of your mission. If not then there is no reason for you to be standing in front of me now." 

"I am ready sir. Everything is in order; I just need to know where I am to meet Remus." She knew she sounded confidant even if she wasn't. This was going to be the most dangerous part of her mission. Now that Remus knew that she had switched sides anything could go wrong. She knew that the enchantment on the parchment she had given him wasn't fool proof, nothing ever was. There were ways to get around it, one just had to think creatively, and if anyone could do that it would be Remus. 

"That is of little consequence. I have had a portkey prepared for your journey. Lucius is in possession of it at the moment. You will report to him and he will give you and your partner the final details. You have decided on who you are taking correct?"

"Yes sir. I am going to take Pansy Parkinson with me. While she may not be the most experienced person in this field, I feel that since she is a student as well she will be able to help me keep Remus calm. I know that if I took anyone else that he would feel threatened, and we need him on our side." 

"Very well. Go, and again, do not fail me."

........

Hermione was nervous as she walked out of the meeting. She knew that if anything went wrong it was her life on the line, in more than one way. Remus could very well have found a way to tell someone. She could be walking right into a trap and wouldn't know it until it was too late. She knew that if this happened and she managed to escape that there was the possibility that she would be severely punished for failing.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a high pitched squeal before being smothered.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Pansy squealed as she squeezed Hermione harder. 

"If I say you're welcome will you let me go-I can barely breathe." 

"Oh! Sorry Hermione. I just can't believe you decided to have me come with you! I'm finally going to be noticed instead of just being the girl in the shadows! Thank you!"

"Calm down Pansy. We have to keep calm about this." 

"I promise you that I am trying, but I am just so excited! Once we successfully complete this mission we will be known!"

"Miss Parkinson, please calm yourself." Lucius interrupted. Hermione smiled at him and mouthed Thank you. She didn't know how much more of that she could have taken. "We have very little time before you both are scheduled to leave, and I have much to explain to you. If you would follow me." He said, turning and walking way. Both of the girls had to run to keep up with him.

When they finally reached the room he was leading them to they both sighed in relief. Yes they were both healthy and could have run much further than they did but they knew they had to save their energy for the mission. They quickly walked over to the chairs across from where Lucius was and sat down.

"Okay girls, listen and listen carefully. This mission is not going to be as easy as it sounds. Neither of you are going to know before hand where you are going to be meeting Lupin so you must be able to assess your situation within seconds. You will be going there to meet him and bring him here that is all. Don't waste valuable time in a meaningless conversation. Get in, grab him, and get out. You will be traveling there by portkey, but will be apparating out. If anything should go wrong be prepared to defend yourselves and don't hesitate to kill if you have to. Do you both understand?"

"Yes." They chorused at the same time. Neither of the girls was as confident as before. They felt like everyone knew something that they didn't, and they weren't sure how they felt about it.

"It is time. Good luck to you both." Lucius said, handing them the portkey and backing away, not leaving them anytime to respond.

.........

**A/N: I wasn't planning on ending this here, but I've been feeling horrible lately and I don't know how much time I'm going to have to write, plus I'm out of it so I didn't want to write the Mission till I felt better, so I wanted to get something up. Hopefully the next chapter will be up before Monday as I'm probably going out of town for a week, if not then look forward to many new chapters and depending on how I feel there might be some more Voldy/Hermione interaction. As always feel free to suggest something you want in the story. If I can make it fit I will add it, if not then I can always find a way to make a story just for you.**

**Please review and let me know what you think even if you hate it too.**

**Also, some people have told me that they don't see where this story is going and they might come back later… Truthfully I don't blame you. I know the end I want and I know the couple I want but I'm having such a hard time getting there. So thanks for sticking with me up to this point.**


	23. Ambush and Other Random Dealings

**Ambush and Other Random Dealings**

**A/N: Gone! It's all gone! I had the next few chapters after this already written out (I was stuck on this one) in my notebook. Well I just realized… my notebook is 1,700 miles away from me and I will never get it back. Which means every story I wrote down is gone… so if it takes me forever to update after this it's because I'm going to try to get the rest of this story typed out before I completely forget what I had planned out…**

**Oh and just to let you know, I'm horrible at writing fighting scenes… so even though you all are hoping for a lengthy well written fight scene I will probably end up writing very little and summarizing it.**

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Hermione's stomach dropped as she felt the familiar pull of traveling by Portkey. She was nervous, almost to the point of being scared about this mission. The first one hadn't been a major thing to her. All she had to do was talk Remus, a man who she always felt was easily swayed, into thinking that he was not being included in everything. It was simple for her; she had always secretly felt she should be paid for talking to people because of how good she was at it. She could argue with someone until they believed the sky was a brilliant shade of green if she really wanted to.

This was a completely different story though. She didn't know how it was going to turn out. It could end up being so simple that she only had to take Remus back to Voldemort, or she could end up in a battle for her life. She wouldn't know until she was there, which was sooner than she wanted.

When she arrived she quickly took stock of her surroundings. There were ruins all around her in different states of decay. Some seemed to be almost new but most of the ones near her were almost completely demolished. She took note of the ones that they could duck behind if it came to that. While looking around she also noticed that they were further away from the actual meeting spot than she had thought they would be. She had expected to arrive right by where they needed to be to talk to Remus, but when she thought about it she realized that Lucius would not put them in a situation that they couldn't try to escape from.

"Hermione, does this seem, I don't know, a little creepy to you?" Pansy asked while looking around. Hermione couldn't help but giggle a little. It was exactly what she would have imagined Pansy would say.

"A little, but it's what we have to deal with. So what do you say, are you ready for this?"

"I guess I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

Hermione nodded, signaling that until they found out that it was safe they should try not to make any unnecessary noise. Deciding that Pansy wasn't going to volunteer to walk out first, Hermione pulled her hood up and made sure her face wasn't visible before pulling out her wand and walking out from behind the pillar. As soon as she did she quickly had to jump back into cover to avoid being hit by a stunning spell.

"I guess this isn't going to be as easy as I was hoping it would." Hermione said preparing to have to fight her way forward. "I hope you're ready for this because there is no turning back until we find out what went wrong.

Pansy didn't know how to respond, so she pulled out her wand and started scouting. Hermione decided to make a different choice, and started shooting spells everywhere in the hope that someone would slip up and reveal their position. She was soon rewarded when she saw bright pink hair over the top of a small statue.

Moving carefully so as not to be seen, Hermione made her way over to the statue that her quarry was hiding behind, dodging curses and spells the whole time. As she finally reached it she pulled out her wand and made sure to come up behind Tonks.

"Hello love, I hope you didn't think you were really hiding." Hermione whispered into Tonks' ear, digging her wand into Tonks' back.

"I don't know who you are but you are threatening an Auror, and that never ends well."

"I'm shocked you don't recognize my voice. I did live at the same place as you for a whole summer. And don't worry about how this ends just know that you won't have to worry ever again."

"Hermione? You are the one that deserted?"

"It would seem like it wouldn't. But as interested as I am in this conversation it must be brought to an end. I have other things I have to accomplish and this is only one of them. Goodbye Nymphadora." Hermione decided to show a little mercy and finished her off with the Killing Curse before checking to see what had been going on during her short conversation.

Remus was standing in the scheduled meeting place, a look of shock on his face. Pansy had killed Arthur Weasley and was battling Kingsley. From the looks of things it was going to end well for her so Hermione continued looking. That's when she saw two more flashes of bright red hair and decided to head for the shortest one after stunning the one she guessed was George (even she couldn't tell from so far away.)

Since Remus didn't look like he knew what was happening, George was temporarily stunned, and Pansy was making sure that Kingsley was taken care of, Hermione stood up and casually walked over to where Ron was cowering.

"What's wrong Weasley, scared?"

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Why are you even here Ron? Other than to let me enjoy draining your life from your body."

"Because I am a part of the Order, and I won't let any Death Eater kill me or the ones I love." Ron said, pulling his wand out with a shaky hand and facing Hermione.

"You are a little late for that, your father is dead and so is Tonks. Kingsley will be soon, and as for George, well that depends on how satisfied I am with killing you."

"I'm not scared of someone who won't even show me who they are!"

"Well if that's all it will take to make you scared then here!" Hermione laughed, pulling her mask off and throwing it, her hood falling down in the process.

"Hermione! I knew it had to be you! I've always felt there was something wrong with you, from the beginning I swear it!"

"I highly doubt that Ron. You've always been an idiot, and sadly you are about to die as one too. Sectumsempra!"

Ron was too slow to completely dodge her curse, resulting in his wand arm becoming useless. His eyes widened in fear as he realized just how easy it was going to be for Hermione to kill him. Deciding to try anything to keep himself from dying he resorted to begging.

"Please Hermione, don't kill me! I'll do anything, I'll switch sides, and I'll kill Harry for you! Please! I've never been anything but a good friend to you!"

Hermione laughed, her eyes showing how angry she really was. "Really Ron, why would the Dark Lord want someone as weak as you to join him. It's going to take me two spells to kill you. Pathetic. And how can you think you have been a good friend to me? From the beginning you were using me, planning to kill me, just so that you would live. You are the lowest form of being that there could ever be, and a coward as well. No Ron, I don't believe that anything can keep me from enjoying your death tonight. At least I will have something enjoyable from this night."

The next few minutes were the most enjoyable moments of Hermione's recent existence. Ron's voice went from whimpers to screams of pain, from screams of pain to pleas for mercy before finally being abruptly cut off. When it was all over she was a little disappointed. She had known that Ron wasn't the best dueler but she had hoped that he was going to at least make her try. The only thing that kept her from being completely disappointed was the fact that Harry was a better dueler and that she still had the chance to go up against him.

Hermione turned around to see how Pansy was doing fighting Kingsley, and was surprised at what she saw. Pansy had him lying on the floor with tears streaming out of his eyes from the pain he was in. Hermione was just about to tell her to end it so they could report back when it was over. Pansy looked over at Hermione, her face a mixture of pleasure and wariness. Hermione smiled and nodded at her before walking over to where George was lying unconscious.

She knew that she should kill him. Leave no witness had been drilled into her head since the beginning. A witness was a liability that could come back to end your life, but she couldn't do it and wouldn't let Pansy. George had been there for her through everything that had happened. When Sirius was killed everyone was crowding around Harry to comfort him. No one had noticed Hermione sitting in a corner with silent tears rolling down her face, no one except George. He had taken her into his arms and whispered nonsense words to her until she calmed down. He then had helped her up to her room and left with a smile. They had been close even after that. When she needed someone to talk to he always seemed to be there. She couldn't leave him alive here, but she couldn't kill him either.

"Hermione, we need to leave, now." Pansy said looking around her. Everyone was dead except for Remus and George but she still had a feeling that they were in danger. "Either kill him or bring him with us, and hurry."

"Okay Pansy, you go get Remus and I'll grab George. Maybe he will be of use to us in telling us what happened."

* * *

When Hermione and Pansy arrived back at the headquarters they were immediately met by Lucius. He paused when he saw that they had George Weasley with them but quickly recovered and told them that they were to report to Voldemort without delay. They only had to wait a few minutes before they were seen.

"I take it that you had some minor complications with the mission?"

"There were a few. When we arrived everything seemed calm at first. As we left cover to approach Remus spells were shot at us. We disposed of some of the members of the Order, including Arthur, Nymphadora, Kingsley, and Ron. Once that was done we quickly collected Remus and apparated here."

"Were there any surviving?"

"Only George here, everyone else was eliminated."

"And why did you leave him alive?"

Hermione didn't know how to respond. She couldn't tell him the truth, which would show weakness which was something she couldn't afford. She also knew that she wouldn't be able to lie to him.

"Hermione told me that she thought it would be best if we brought him with us so that we could find out why the Order was there. She then thought that there was a chance that we might be able to persuade him to join our ranks as a spy, since Remus will no longer be able to perform that job." Pansy reported, winking at Hermione.

"We will have to see about that. What about Remus? Do you think that he was part of the ambush?"

"I don't believe so. During the fight he seemed dazed, as if he had no idea what was going on. He didn't move against us, he just stood there and watched."

"Very well. Pansy you may leave now. Hermione, we need to talk although it will have to wait until after I have questioned Remus and George. You can either stay or leave until it is over."

"I will stay." Hermione said, waving goodbye to Pansy behind her back.

"Good. Let's proceed shall we. Pay close attention, you will need this information later."

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In a little less than an hour the questioning was finished. Remus was able to answer every question correctly while under the influence of Veritaserum and was dismissed and told to find his old "friend" Wormtail for instructions. When George was revived he quickly went for his wand before slumping in defeat. Hermione tried to reassure him with a smile, but he refused to look at her. Many times during the interrogation she had to look away so she wouldn't have to see the pain on his face from the curses or the looks of betrayal that he kept sending her.

When it was over they had found out that Ron and George had been spying on the Order when they said that they suspected Remus of switching sides. They had decided to follow him and help in any way they could. At the end of his explanation he had looked at Hermione and asked if they were going to kill him now. Voldemort had laughed and told Hermione to give him his choices. It didn't take him long to decide. He chose to switch sides and become a spy for Voldemort rather than die. After Voldemort gave George the mark and bound him irrevocably to him George was dismissed and told to wait outside of the room for Hermione so they could discuss his mission.

After he left the room Hermione looked expectantly at Voldemort. She didn't know why he wanted to speak to her but she had a feeling that she wasn't going to be scolded for anything.

"I hope you were paying attention to both the questions that were asked of Remus and the method used to interrogate an enemy. You will be using both of those methods sooner than you think. You are now a member of my Inner Circle. Normally it takes longer than you have been here to be able to achieve this status but I feel that you have more than deserved it. You have survived an attack from the Order, and brought two of them members to our side. Not many can boast of doing this is such a short amount of time. Don't let me regret my decision."

Hermione didn't know what to say. She had never thought that she would be anything more than another Death Eater, and now she was going to be one of his most trusted advisors. She would not have to go on as many missions, but she would be more valuable than anyone else, other than the other members of the Inner Circle.

"Well Hermione, do you have anything to say?"

"Thank you sir, I won't make you regret this."

"I would hope not. You have shown more promise than anyone else, even Lucius. I don't want you to waste any of your talents on trivial missions that you would have gone on. You will have new responsibilities but many more freedoms. I will have explain these to you after you have rested. Now go, we will meet again once you have had things explained to you."

Hermione once again couldn't think of what to say. She had just received the biggest compliment that she could and she didn't want to ruin the moment by saying something stupid, so she quickly bowed and left the room.

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"Are you sure that is what you saw? Hermione was wearing the robes of a Death Eater and killed Tonks and Ron. If I find out you are lying you will wish that you had been discovered during the battle."

"I am positive Professor. I thought that I was seeing things but it was really her."

"Very well, I will give you the help you requested for this information. You can go, I need to figure out what this means for the Light and Harry."

"Thank you Professor. You don't know what this means to me." Draco said as he walked out of the room.

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**A/N: Okay so I hope this was good. I have read over it a few times and I'm not sure if I got everything in that needed to be in there. I know a lot of people asked for an epic battle between Hermione and Ron, but I've always hated Ron and found him to be an idiot so I figured he would end up dying quickly if it came down to him and Hermione.**

**And I really wanted Draco and Hermione to be friendly throughout this story but I realized it doesn't work with the final scene. So hopefully that explains to everyone why I added that last scene.**

**I also left out the part where she talks to George. That's going to take some space so I decided to start the next chapter with it. Within the next few (I want to say 2) chapters you will have some of your questions answered, including why Hermione's Mark is different than everyone else's, how she can get the bracelet that Lucius gave her off (I haven't mentioned it in a while but it is very very important towards the end), among other things. **

**If you have any questions you want answered leave them in a review and if I can answer them without screwing up the story for you I will, if not I will let you know when you can expect to find out.**


	24. Talking Explanations and Circle Understa

Talking Explanations and Circle Understandings

**A/N: Okay so I realized that I completely lost track of the time line of this story so we are all going to pretend like it's summer vacation for everyone now, okay? Also I have finished writing this story. All that is left is for me to type and upload everything, so that should make everyone happy. If you want to know how to get me to upload faster then read the author's note at the end. Happy Reading!**

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"Hermione we need to talk." George said as soon as he saw Hermione walk out of the room.

Hermione jumped when she heard George talk. With everything she had just heard she had forgotten that George was told to wait outside for her. Noticing that the two Death Eaters guarding the doors were paying a little too much attention to them, she motioned for him to follow her and started towards her room.

They were both silent until Hermione had closed and locked her door. As soon as she had done so George decided that he couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"What's going on Hermione? Everyone heard that someone from our side had betrayed us, but no one ever thought it was you. And what happened while I was unconscious. Is my dad okay? Tonks? Remus? Did they all get away?"

"George slow down. First, no one survived the attack but you and Remus. Pansy killed your dad and Kingsley. I took out Ron and Tonks. The only reason she didn't kill you is because I remembered how you had always been there to comfort me, and I couldn't repay you by letting you die."

"You killed Ron? He wasn't even there, unless… Oh Merlin, he followed us there. Why did you do it? I thought he was your friend!"

"I guess that brings us back to your first question of why. I found out towards the beginning of the school year that everything I knew was a lie. I overheard Harry and Ron talking about a plan they had made back when they first realized that I was so powerful. They had befriended me with the hopes to kill me before the final battle and transfer my power temporarily to Harry so he could defeat Voldemort. At that point I hadn't even thought of switching sides, I just didn't know what to do anymore. Later on I heard Draco and Pansy talking about how Draco didn't want the Mark. That made me think. If everything I had known about me, Harry and Ron was a lie, wasn't there the possibility that everything Dumbledore told us was a lie too? That's when I made up my mind, and here I am now."

George was speechless. He had always felt like his brother didn't fully appreciate his friendship with Hermione like he should have, and now he knew why.

"I understand Hermione. I hate that my father and brother are dead because of it, but I understand why you did what you did. Can you explain a few more things to me though?"

"I believe I owe you that, if not more."

"You said that Remus and I were the only two that survived. What happened to him?"

"He has joined Voldemort. Originally he was going to be the spy, but I don't think that will work now that the Order had him followed."

"And what exactly am I to do as a spy?"

"You will be sent back to the Order in a few days. We will make it look like you were tortured so that they don't expect anything. After you have left here you won't return for a while. You will send out your reports in code and by way of owl. You will give the Order false information when they question you about what has happened to you here. Another member will explain your story at a later time. Just know that your job is one of the most dangerous one available. I shudder to think of what could happen if you are found out. You must always be careful, even here at headquarters. You have to try not to be seen by anyone, especially Severus. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do."

"Good. I'm so glad you joined Voldemort. Almost everyone has made me feel okay about being here, but I've missed some of my old friends."

"I've missed you too Hermione. But I should probably go find out the rest of my job before I have to leave. I made a vow that I would always be here for you Hermione, and I meant it. I will still be loyal to you, even if it means being loyal to Voldemort. Stay safe okay?"

"You too George." Hermione said, giving him a brief hug before opening the door for him to leave.

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The sunlight filtering through the curtains drew Hermione form the first deep sleep she had had in a while. Wiping the sleep from her eyes she looked around her, realizing for the first time how incredibly lucky she was. She had a cause she could fight for, she had friends who welcomed her. She had a new father figure in her life who cared for her. With that thought she smiled. She would go and visit Lucius this morning, she had many things to ask him about.

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"Hermione, while I might hope that you were just coming to see me to visit, I have a feeling you have something you wish to discuss." Lucius said, a smile gracing his features as he looked at what he considered his real daughter. She had exceeded every hope he had held for her, and while it was hard for him to tell her how proud he was, he knew she could tell.

"Hello Lucius. I actually do have a few questions for you. Could you tell me a little about this bracelet you sent me?" She said, giving him a hug before taking the seat across from him.

"Tell me what you know about it."

"I know it's extremely valuable, was hatched from the egg of Ouroboros, and helps keep the person wearing it calm. I really just don't know how to get it off."

"Well it's really quite simple. The bracelet will only come off when the person wearing it is the happiest they have ever been."

"Is that what you consider simple? I'll have to remember that for later on when you are telling me about missions."

"It's good you said that since the Dark Lord asked me to explain to you your new responsibilities. As a member of the Inner Circle you will have more responsibilities and more danger in your life. While the Order is out to eliminate all of the Death Eaters, their main targets are Voldemort and his Circle. Because of this you will only fight in the most important battles and the only missions you will go on will be the ones that are the most secretive. Your main duties will be to advise the Dark Lord and train new recruits. You do not have to respond to the calls to the normal meetings unless you wish to, but you must always be there when he calls his Circle. You will start your training with Lord Voldemort as well. He has seen promise in you that he hasn't seen in years. He has decided to train you in the Ancient Dark Arts, a subject many go mad from learning. He feels that you have the mind power to withstand it's madness. Any questions?"

"Surprisingly yes, I have one. Does this mean that I am better than you now since it took me less time to get to the same place as you?" Hermione asked, a smirk on her face.

"Insolent girl." Lucius said with a gleam in his eye.

All anyone who walked by heard after that was the sound of a father and daughter laughing at something that many wouldn't understand.

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**A/N: Yay another chapter up! Okay so the new rule. Since I have the rest of the story ready to be posted (well other than typing it up but that won't take me long) if you want there to be a new chapter you have to do something. Before I post a new chapter I want at least 10 reviews for each chapter. That shouldn't be too hard since I normally get between 5-7 reviews and many more alerts and favorites. So review!**


	25. The Dark Mark with a Little Romance

The Dark Mark with a Little Romance

**A/N: First things first, I forgot to check over the last chapter for spelling… So I apologize for any spelling and grammar mistakes. Once I have uploaded the rest of the chapters I will go back and check all of my chapters for spelling and grammar. But I will try to be better at it for the rest of the chapters. I only got 9 reviews but I just love you guys so much that I had to post. IMPORTANT: This chapter has some mature scenes in it. Please don't hate me for the sex scene I wrote, it was my first one (other than a few rape scenes I've written) so if it sucks I'm sorry… Happy reading!**

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"I take it you've talked to Lucius as I told you to." Voldemort said. He had seceded that since Hermione was now an important part of his Death Eaters that a more casual setting in which to meet would allow things to flow better. Therefore he decided they would meet in his private library. He was hoping to start her secondary training after they talked.

"I did. He told me how things would change, and that I would be doing some training with you, but didn't go into specifics on missions and such."

"That's because missions are very confidential for my Circle. Only the one going on the mission and myself know all the details of any single mission. It's a need-to-know basis, you find out the specifics of a mission only when you are chosen for it. I am able to tell you some of your added responsibilities at this time though. Along with the normal training of new recruits you will also help with interrogations and the questioning of new members if I am unavailable. That is another reason you are going to be learning the Ancient Dark Arts. I am going to be teaching you how to create the Dark Mark and how to bind their oath to me even if I am unable to be around. Now unless you have anything additional to discuss we should begin your training."

"Well actually, I have one last thing I was wondering about before we began. I had noticed that my Mark was different from everyone else's and, well, I was wondering I you knew why."

"Show me."

Hermione carefully showed him her Mark, fearing that it meant that she wasn't worthy to be a part of the Death Eaters after all. She thought her fears were confirmed when his facial expression changed to surprise before becoming his normal blank mask.

"You should have informed me of this sooner."

"What does it mean?"

"I haven't seen this Mark in many years. She was the last one to have it, the only one until now to have it."

"Please explain."

"Back when I was doing my schooling at Hogwarts I was in love. I can tell you are surprised. Yes even I have felt love once before. Her name was Annastrianna Devereaux, and she was a muggleborn. We were inseparable. I decided one day to tell her about my dream. You see, this all started for a very different reason than the one that exists today. I had always felt that the magical world needed to be more careful with how we dealt with muggles. Even then we could tell if a muggle was going to end up a witch or wizard. I wanted those children to be taken in by the wizarding world from birth, welcomed with open arms; I wanted them to know from birth what they were. That would keep them safe from the people that could hurt them and keep us safe from the muggles that would hunt us all down if they knew. What I proposed was something that could end my life if the ministry found out. They wanted muggles and wizards to co-exist, both knowing about each other.

When I told Anna about my cause she agreed with me and asked if there was any way she could help. I then gave her the Mark I gave all of my other followers. I said the same incantation that I used on everyone, but hers was different, like yours. Together we worked for many months trying to find out why. When we finally discovered the truth we didn't know what to do. It was revealed to us that the Mark she bore meant the person, who was always a female, had a light soul, a good soul, but had the potential to be one of the Darkest Witches of their time. It showed who the Dark Lady was supposed to be, as I later re-named the title to. She was to help rule what is now called the Death Eaters. But we had found out one last thing that frightened us. The woman who had that Mark upon her skin had a curse upon her. While she would know power and love beyond what anyone but her Lord could comprehend, she would also know death before her time."

"So I am supposed to co-rule the Death Eaters with you?"

"Apparently so."

"And I am going to die?"

"As all mortals do. You will just die sooner than you are meant to. Don't take that to mean anything. There was no explanation of time, so you could die months from now, or a day before you were originally scheduled to."

"I have one more question. What happened to Annastrianna?"

"We became engaged. She helped me bring loyalty and order to our cause. The night before we were to be married she was murdered by a group of muggles who found out what she was."

"Is that what changed your goal?"

"It was. I realized that no muggle unless well versed in our ways could ever understand us. Or maybe I just wanted revenge for her murder. Either way I became feared and hated. Dumbledore knew everything, from my original goal to her death. Even today he spreads lies about me to encourage others to turn against me. I decided that if he was going to make others believe I was terrible than I might as well become what he made others believe me to be."

"So because of Dumbledore you are the man you are today?"

"Man? Can you really call me a man anymore? Look at me. I am more snake than man now. But yes I am such because of that fool Dumbledore! I am less than human because of his lies! I lost everything I loved and believed in because of him!"

Hermione didn't know what to say, so she reached her hand out to him to comfort him, or at least try to. She was unprepared for the shock that coursed through her body at the feel of his skin.

When she was asked later how it happened she would respond that it was destined to. At that moment all she knew was that the fire in his eyes wasn't caused by anger, but by lust.

**(This is where it becomes M, so don't read the next couple paragraphs if you aren't old enough please. I'll let you know when it's safe again.)**

His lips moved towards hers, hesitating mere centimeters away as if asking for permission. Hermione smiled at him and quickly closed the distance between them. The kiss started out slowly as if they were both unsure of the others feelings, but soon became rough and forceful.

Within the space of a few minutes they had retreated to his room and had both removed their clothing. Hermione stood in front of him, suddenly shy in her nakedness, unsure of what to do and how he felt.

Slowly Voldemort's hands encircled her waist, his eyes staring into hers trying to show her how beautiful he thought she was. Still she was unsure.

"Hermione, I know you have heard of all the rapes and murders I have committed but know this. Looking at you I feel something more. I will not have you without your consent."

Hermione looked into his eyes searching for something she couldn't name. Slowly she nodded.

He met her gaze and smiled the first real smile she had ever seen from him. When she saw that smile she knew in an instant that what she was doing was more right than anything she had ever done before.

The stood there for a few more minutes, neither of them moving. Hermione was slowly growing frustrated with him and decided to take things into her own hands. Reaching up she grabbed his neck and brushed her lips against his. At her touch he pulled her against him, pressing their naked bodies together.

"I will only ask once more as that is all that is left of my control, are you sure this is what you want?" Voldemort asked, his voice showing the strain it took to keep himself still until he had her answer.

Suddenly feeling bolder than before Hermione locked her hands behind his neck and arched her body against him. Voldemort made a small sound low in his throat before sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to his bed, pressing himself against her opening.

"Please." Hermione begged him.

He spread her legs and eased himself inside of her, moving slow as if he were afraid he would hurt her.

When he was sheathed inside her he looked at her, surprise evident on his face.

"You're not a virgin."

"No I'm not, and I won't break." Hermione said, pressing her mouth to his and thrusting her hips towards him.

Voldemort groaned low in his throat before pulling completely out of her and roughly thrusting back in. He continued to couple with her roughly before slowing the rhythm of his body.

Hermione could feel the effort of slowing strain through his arms and back. Her body started to spasm around him, tightening to encompass him. He cried out and his body lost the new rhythm he had just begun, thrusting into her faster and harder.

"Come with me, I won't do it without you." Hermione panted out between thrusts. She received only a nod in reply.

At that moment she felt a wave of pleasure burst over her in a skin-tingling rush. As one they both cried out, their noises to primitive to be called screams.

**(It's safe now)**

When it was over Hermione's eyes drifted shut as she cuddled around him.

"Hermione?" Voldemort said, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yes Tom."

"Thank you."

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**A/N: I hope I didn't completely butcher that… Let me know what you think. I hope this satisfies the people who asked me for some Hermione/Voldy smut. Remember 10 reviews or I don't post the next chapter. Aren't I so mean!**

**Sorry to those of you who want these chapters to be longer but well... I tried and they didn't want to be any longer than they are....  
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	26. A Few Months

A Few Months

**A/N: This is a really short chapter, but you guys are amazing so I had to post something else. I'll post the other chapters tomorrow. Including this chapter there are only three chapters left to this story. I'm a little sad to be getting down to the end… Happy Reading…**

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Months passed by without a word from either side. Hermione spent her days training new recruits and learning as much as she could about the Ancient Dark Arts. Her evenings were spent with the rest of the Inner Circle reporting on the new trainee's progress and making plans for the final battle that they all knew was coming.

Her nights were spent in the arms of her lover. Every night after he had dismissed the rest of the Circle he would take her in his arms and kiss her forehead. They would walk together to his room. Sometimes they would make love, other times they would just lie beside each other and talk until they fell asleep.

Hermione had started calling him Tom when they were alone. He would smile at her only in private. When they were around others she called him My Lord or Voldemort. He would continue to act like the madman he was before her.

Voldemort was slowly starting to change. He refused to change his cause no matter how much she asked him to, saying that the muggles had done too much damage for him to forgive them. She would remind him that she was a muggleborn and he would always respond by saying that she was his muggleborn though, and that it was different.

Slowly Voldemort was reverting back to the old Tom Riddle. He still looked the same but he no longer acted like the madman he had become.

Remus and George had asked her about it one day. When she told them the truth they were disgusted. They couldn't see how she could love someone like him. She just responded by asking Remus how he could ever expect to be loved if he made everyone think like that. After that she wouldn't speak to them unless she had to.

Hermione was officially made the Dark Lady a few days after her confrontation with Remus and George. All of the Death Eaters were summoned and the ceremony began. Many dark rituals took place, most of which made Hermione cringe. After it was over all of the Death Eaters had to swear their loyalty to her. When it was Severus' turn she told him that he had to pick a side. She promised him safe passage from Headquarters if he chose the Order. He refused to side with Voldemort, and was found dead a few days later.

The night after the ceremony she was to be found lying in Tom's arms as usual. Right as she was about to fall asleep she heard him whisper that he loved her. When she responded that she loved him too, he asked if she would marry him after everything was over. She said yes.

While all of this was happening Draco was busy revealing everything he knew about Hermione, Voldemort, and their plans. When he was asked to become a spy he refused, saying that Hermione knew his view point on joining and would immediately suspect that he was a traitor.

Harry was busy mourning the loss of his friend. He had always counted on the plan that Ron had made, had always thought that was the only way for him to defeat Voldemort. Now that Ron was dead he vowed to avenge him and began intense training with the Aurors that stayed at Grimmauld Place.

A few days before the end of summer George returned to Hermione telling her he had urgent news. She sent him to the library and told him she would fetch Voldemort and meet him there. A few hours later plans were being made for the final battle which was to take place a few days later.

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**A/N: Like I said really short, but it sets the story up for the last chapter and maybe epilogue, I haven't decided yet if there will be one. Let me know what you think!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I really enjoyed reading some of the reactions to it haha.  
**


	27. The Final Battle

The Final Battle

**A/N: I am doing an epilogue so stay tuned for that. It should be posted later on today. I hope I don't butcher the fighting too much, since we all know how much I suck at writing fight scenes… If I butcher it then I will write whatever story you guys want after this, so make sure to let me know if it happens. Happy Reading!**

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A few hours before the battle was to begin Hermione sought out Lucius to ask him his advice. It took her a while but she eventually found him sitting out in the gardens staring at the rose bushes Hermione had planted.

"I remember when Draco was a young boy, he and Narcissa could always be found in our garden playing. He was obsessed with the roses. He would come up with so many stories about those roses."

"What happened?"

"I became the Lord's right hand man. For a while the stress was too much for me to take. I took it out on Draco one day. I had just gotten back from a meeting and I was exhausted. I couldn't get to sleep though because I kept hearing Draco telling more of his stories. I became frustrated and ran out to the garden. I grabbed his arm and he started crying. I began to scream at him. I don't even remember all of what I was saying to him. Narcissa was yelling at me, telling me to let him go. I remember telling him at one point that making up stories was useless, I told him that the only thing he had to look forward to was death and that I might as well get him used to the idea. I let him go and he ran to Narcissa and grabbed her, crying while watching me. I set the roses on fire. Once they were decimated I walked back up to my room. I remember hearing Draco screaming that I had killed them. Narcissa kept trying to tell him that they would grow back, but he just kept repeating that they wouldn't. He changed that day into the person you knew in school. And the rose's never did grow back."

"Lucius…"

"Don't try to comfort me Hermione. It's not going to help. I know it's my fault that he isn't the man he was destined to become. I am the reason that he isn't inside right now preparing to fight along with his father." Lucius stuttered out, eventually dissolving into tears. He had told Hermione not to comfort him so she respected his wishes and left. She felt it would be better not to tell him that she had just received news that Draco and Narcissa had betrayed them all. With any luck none of them would see each other during battle. She didn't know if Lucius would be able to defend himself against his own family.

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"You do realize there is a good chance I will die tonight right?"

"I know Tom."

"And that we will be separated?"

"Never. As long as you hold me in your heart I will follow you wherever you go."

"I love you Hermione."

"And I you, Tom."

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When both sides met from across the battlefield there were surprised faces on both sides. There were those on the Order's side that had been kept in the dark about Hermione and Remus' change in sides. All of them were surprised by the fact that George had joined them and that Hermione now had as much control over the Death Eater's as Voldemort. They all realized at once that they were outnumbered and out-magicked.

There were only two surprised faces from Hermione's side. Both Pansy and Lucius were in tears when they saw that Draco and Narcissa betrayed them.

But all of the people gathered for the fight knew one thing, the only fight that mattered was between Voldemort and Harry, and both sides had been ordered not to interfere. The Death Eaters and Order Members were there only to try to lower the numbers of the other side in case they lost.

Hermione and Voldemort had figured out a plan between themselves to try to help him win. It was risky, but it was the only thing that could give Voldemort enough power to end it once and for all.

Hermione was going to use her new learning of the Ancient Dark Arts to put a shield around Harry and Voldemort as they were dueling. Not only would this keep them from any interference from either side, but it would also help strengthen Voldemort since Hermione would use the shield to transfer most of her power to him. It would leave her almost defenseless but it was the only plan she would allow them to enact.

At some unspoken signal both sides attacked. Within the first few minutes there were casualties on both sides. Hermione looked around her from her position and was surprised at two groups of people that she saw dueling.

Fred and George were standing across from each other, their wands out and ready for whatever spell they were going to cast. Hermione stood there and watched as both of the twins looked around for someone to come up and take over for them in this battle.

Draco and Lucius. Father and son pitted against each other. Draco shot off the first spell, prepared from the start to kill his own father. When Lucius realized this he closed his eyes and his mouth formed the words 'I'm sorry' before he began to duel his son to the death.

Deciding that there was no point in her watching as she could do nothing to help them she quickly turned her attention back to the dual that had begun between Harry and Voldemort.

She carefully knelt down in the grass and prepared to shield them.

**"Contego Tom per vestry vox**

**Trasfero mei ut Tom**

**Servo unus amo**

**Facies potens amo."**

Hermione wasn't sure if the spell had worked at first because nothing seemed to be happening. She was soon proved wrong when she felt something pulling her magic out of her. She struggled to stay conscious through the pain of her power being transferred so that she could finish the spell and allow Tom to win once and for all.

**"Dimitto meus vox." **Hermione said. She had only one line left to say, that one that would shield her from any spells shot her way. She would still be vulnerable to physical attacks, but she didn't think the Order would use anything but magic.

Right as she was about to say the last line of the spell she heard someone say her name.

"Dumbledore." Hermione said, not trying to conceal her disgust.

"Very smart of you to try to use such a spell. It was always the same with you, willing to sacrifice yourself to protect those you love. But there is one thing I can't understand. How did the Gryffindor Princess fall in love with Slytherin's Heir?"

Hermione smirked. "You always did preach inter-house unity. I guess it stuck with me when I turned by back on those who betrayed me."

"Now Hermione, how can you say that _we_ betrayed you? If anything I would have to say that you betrayed your own family, both the magical and muggle. Fighting with the man that would have willingly killed all of them a year ago."

"You know nothing about Tom or me!"

"My dear, I know more than you think I do."

"And what is that to mean?"

"It means I know why you left the Order in the first place. That plan was in poor taste wasn't it? There were so many other ways to go about it, although all of them would have resulted in your death. A minor factor. Ah well, some things must be sacrificed for the greater good. And you my dear, you have been and always will be useful to the Order's cause."

"What are you talking about?"

**"Removeo auxilium**

**Socius cum bonus**

**Nociturus malo!"**

"No!" Hermione screamed as she felt her power being transferred from Voldemort to Harry and began to feel her life being drained from her body.

"Don't worry my dear. It won't be painful. Before you die you will pass out, it will be like falling asleep and just never waking up. Although, if you want to see your lover alive one last time I would look now. You only have about a minute left."

Hermione couldn't help but believe him. She struggled to turn her head to look at Tom one last time. Feeling weak, she whispered his name one last time before she collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Voldemort was doing his best to defend himself against Harry's attacks but hand been injured when Hermione's power had left him. Right as he saw his opening he thought he heard Hermione whisper his name in his ear. He quickly looked over at her at the same moment she collapsed.

Harry saw that he had his chance and yelled out the killing curse. It struck Voldemort on his chest right over where his heart was. Harry thought he saw Voldemort's lips form Hermione's name right before he fell to the ground, dead.

When everyone realized that Harry had defeated Voldemort the fighting stopped. Many of the Death Eater's fled but some, like Lucius, didn't seem to inclined to move. He had been forced to kill his own son and had been too late to do anything but avenge Hermione's death.

Lucius didn't feel that he had anything left to live for. He had failed his son, his adopted daughter, and his Lord. He was about to cast the killing curse on himself rather than let the Order capture him when he saw two figures standing in the shadows by the trees. He started to walk towards them when he saw one of the shake their head telling him not to. He stood there and stared for a few more minutes, oblivious to everything going on around him.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had finally figured out that it was Hermione and Voldemort, looking like a teenager, watching him. As soon as he realized who it was, Hermione whispered something towards him, grabbed Tom's hand and walked away, disappearing into the trees.

Lucius quickly fled the battle field knowing he would forever remember Hermione's last words to him.

"I am finally happy dad. I love you."

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**A/N: Why do I always kill off my characters? Has anyone else noticed that? Ah well at least they are happy. I decided there will be an epilogue. It will only be a list of who died and what happened to everyone else afterwards though.**

**A rough translation (meaning I was too lazy to add the right endings to a lot of these Latin phrases) of the spell that Hermione and then Dumbledore said is:**

**-Shield Tom with your power**

**Transfer mine to Tom**

**Keep the one I love safe**

**Make my love powerful**

**-I send away my power**

**-Remove aid**

**Ally with the good**

**Do harm to the bad**

**Thanks to all of my amazing reviewers, even those of you who only reviewed once. Thanks to the people who added this story to their alerts or favorites. Thanks to those that didn't do any of that but read at least one chapter. I hope that you all enjoyed what you read, and that you will come back and read the other stories I will be posting here in a while.**


	28. Epilogue

Epilogue

**A/N: I've had some people review and tell me that they didn't like how it ended. I'm sorry for that, but it's how I felt the story should go. To answer a few questions (even though some are answered in this, the Epilogue) Hermione and Voldemort are dead. When he died he reverted back to Tom Riddle, the teenager, because that was what he had always wished he could go back to. When Lucius saw them they were dead. They will always be dead for this story. They were in the in between, Hermione wanted Lucius to live, i.e. that is why he saw them. **

There were many deaths on that fateful day.

**The most notable from the Order's side were:**

Molly Weasley

Ginny Weasley

Cho Chang

Neville Longbottom

Luna Lovegood

Albus Dumbledore

Minerva McGonagall

Draco Malfoy

Narcissa Malfoy

**From the Death Eater's side:  
**  
Tom "Voldemort" Riddle

Hermione Granger

Remus Lupin

George Weasley

Bellatrix Lestrange

Wormtail

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**Harry Potter** lived out the rest of his life signing autographs and doing magazine interviews. He became the Minister of Magic when Fudge died and finally started putting Dumbledore's cause into action. He quickly realized that it wasn't a smart idea though when numerous witches and wizards were found burnt to death. The day he died he was found clutching a bracelet in the shape of a snake and a piece of paper. "I'm sorry" were the only words on it.

**Pansy Parkinson** became a fashion designer for the rich. Every year on the anniversary of the final battle she went to the graveyard by Riddle Mansion and placed flowers on Hermione and Tom's graves.

**Lucius Malfoy** moved into Riddle Mansion. He left Hermione and Tom's room as they were so that he could always remember what he was working towards. He had found a letter the first day he moved in lying on his desk in his study. It informed him that Hermione didn't blame him for anything and told him what Tom's original cause was. She left it up to him whether he was going to strive for it or not, he chose to if only so that he could always remember his daughter.

**Fred Weasley** went mad shortly after he killed his brother in battle. He was sent to St. Mungo's psychiatric ward and was never released.

**The remaining Death Eater's** that weren't captured or killed soon gravitated towards Lucius. Some didn't believe in what he was going to do, some were tired of fighting, while others needed something to believe in.

**The remaining Order Member's** lived out the rest of their lives in happiness. They all felt that they achieved what they had wanted. None of them ever thought about Hermione as anything other than a traitor.

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**A/N: So there it is. I hope that everyone enjoyed this story. I am going to feel weird knowing that I have finally finished it. Well I'm going to put a new poll up on my profile, please go and vote in it!**

**Thanks again to everyone who took the time out of their life to read my writing. You guys have inspired me to do so much more than I ever thought I could do.**


	29. NOT AN UPDATE, PLEASE READ ANYWAY

Just a quick note:

First, sorry this isn't an update or anything. This story is finished. (Well maybe...)

Second, the important part. I have a new poll on my profile and it's important that you vote if you want to read more by me, even though I wasn't planning on writing anymore. I have both stories started so it just depends on which one sounds the best.

Third, in regard to my first. I was thinking that will all the reviews and emails that I got for this story saying that people wished that Hermione and Tom had lived and won that I might write an alternate ending just for fun. Any thoughts on if you would like that? Review on this and let me know either way.

Thanks, and sorry about this too.


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